It was a day of mixed fortune for Muhammad Faiq Haziq when he opened his campaign in the 2024 Malaysia Super 100 that starts today at the Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara.
The 18-year-old, who had won the Men’s Doubles crown at the recent SUKMA in Sarawak, showed his prowess alongside partner Lok Hong Quan to make the main draw of the Super100 event.
The two Selangor lads powered past Dickon Khoo-Cheng Lye Jun from Malaysia 21-7, 21-9 in the Qualification Round of 16 in just 20 minutes.
Muhammad Faiq-Hong Quan then followed up that victory with another strong performance in the Qualification Quarterfinals to beat Ng Chen Chang-Wong Zhi Kang – another Malaysian pair – 21-9, 21-5 in 19 minutes.
However, Muhammad Faiq’s hope of making a name for himself in the Men’s Singles fell short when he could not make past the Qualification Round of 16.
Despite being ranked as the fourth seed, Muhammad Faiq put up some fierce resistance before conceding to a 18-21, 17-21 defeat to Chu Chen-jia from Chinese Taipei in the duel that lasted 44 minutes.
In the meantime, national Under-21 champion Eogene Ewe booked his place in the Round of 32 of the Men’s Singles following his close win over a determined Hein Htut from Myanmar.
The 19-year-old Eogene, who made his senior team debut earlier this year, stayed the course to beat Hein Htut 21-18, 21-16.
On the other hand, seventh seeded Cheam June Wei received a bye in the first round where he will take on compatriot Ong Zhen Yi in the second round of the Men’s Singles tomorrow.
The 20-year-old Zhen Yi, who won the Benin International title in 2022, booked his spot with a hard earned 21-17, 22-20 win over Haikal Taufik M Atef in a battle that took almost an hour to finish.
