Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik will get the chance for revenge when they take on Denmark’s Kim Aastrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in the second round in the Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Open on Thursday.
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The 12th ranked Malaysian pair cleared the first hurdle at the Coliseum on Wednesday in straight games 21-13, 21-14 against Indonesian pair Ricky Karandasuwardi-Angga Pratama who were promoted from the qualifying round.
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The Danes had defeated Aaron-Wooi Yik in the second round in the French Open three weeks ago. The Malaysians had a good run in last week’s Fuzhou China Open where they reached the semi-finals where they fell to Japan’s Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda.
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World No 20 Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi also battled into the second round with a hard-fought 17-21, 25-23, 21-16 win over Korean qualifiers Kang Min Hyuk-Kim Jae Hwan in 57 minutes. For a place in the last eight, the Malaysians face World No 5 and fifth seeds Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto. The Indonesians ousted Lee Yang-Wang Chi-Lin of Chinese Taipei 23-21, 21-14.
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Professionals Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong stumbled in the first round. The Rio Olympics silver medal winners ranked No 11 in the world went down 12-21, 15-21 to 27th ranked Russians Vladimir Ivanov-Ivan Sozonov.
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Both the Malaysian pairs in the women’s doubles failed to clear the first round. Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean, who moved up two places to 12 in the latest rankings, fell to fifth seeds Lee So Hee-Shin Seung Chan of Korea 16-21, 21-18, 19-21 in 63 minutes.
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Vivian Hoo-Yap Cheng Wen also crashed out in three games – losing to Hsu Ya Ching-Hu Ling Fang of Chinese Taipei 21-16, 15-21, 17-21 in 51 minutes.
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Malaysia’s challenge in the women’s singles also ended in the first round. Soniia Cheah who beat World No 4 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the first round in the Fuzhou China Open last week fell short this time – a 16-21, 16-21 defeat at the hands of the second seed.
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In the men’s singles professional Liew Daren, who made the main draw through the qualifying rounds, continued his fine form. The Malaysian ranked No 35 upset Denmark’s higher-ranked opponent Rasmus Gemke (20) 21-18, 18-21, 21-15. Gemke reached the semi-finals in Fuzhou.
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Daren faces another Dane for a place in the quarter-finals -world No 5 and seventh seed Viktor Axelsen who beat Korea’s Son Wan-ho 21-9, 21-14. – BY RIZAL ABDULLAH