Two men’s doubles pairs and one women’s doubles pair are in the quarter-finals in the USD600,000 Victor Korea Open at the SK Handball Stadium in Seoul after clearing their second-round matches on Thursday.
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Leading the charge in the men’s doubles are Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik – the World Championships quarter-finalists – who packed off China’s Huang Kaixaing-Wang Zekang 21-16, 21-11 in 23 minutes.
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For a place in the semi-finals, the rising Malaysian pair will take on Japan’s eighth seeds Hiroyuki Endo-Yuta Watanabe who came through a three-game encounter before prevailing 18-21, 21-8, 21-18.
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Chooi Kah Ming-Low Juan Shen also made the quarter-finals when they upset seventh seeds Liao Min-chin-Su Ching-heng of Chinese Taipei 21-19, 21-16 in 33 minutes. Their next battle is against Thailand’s Kittinupong Kedren-Dechapol Puavaranukroh who beat China’s He Jiting-Tan Qiang 21-18, 21-6.
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Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean kept Malaysia’s flag flying in the women’s doubles after surviving a three-game second round match against Korea’s Chang Ye-na-Jung Kyung-eun 21-13, 18-21, 21-14 which lasted 53 minutes.
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It is a tough hurdle for them in the quarter-finals – facing top seeds Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota of Japan. The Japanese demolished Germany’s Linda Elfer-Isabel Herttrich 21-14, 21-11.
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Elsewhere it was the end of the road for Vivian Hoo-Yap Cheng Wen in the women’s doubles after a hard-fought 21-19, 19-21, 21-18 defeat to Indonesia’s Anggia Shitta Awanda-Ni Ketut Mahadewi Istarani in 43 minutes.
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Also shown the exit was Daren Liew in the men’s singles when the privateer fell to Indonesia’s eighth seed Tommy Sugiarto 15-21, 16-21 while Chen Tang Jie-Peck Yen Wei fell 13-21, 20-22 to second seeds Mathias Christiansen- Christinna Pedersen of Denmark in the mixed doubles. BY RIZAL ABDULLAH