Malaysians continued to make waves in the men’s singles in the USD50,000 Yonex Dutch Open Grand Prix as Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin and Soo Teck Zhi marched into the quarter-finals.
In Thursday’s third round matches Iskandar, hailed as Malaysia’s rising star, took 52 minutes before he overcame Finland’s Ville Lang after a tough first set before prevailing 22-20, 21-12.
For a place in the semi-finals the Malayian youngster will face third seed Ajay Jayaram of India. The Indian defeated another Finland player Kasper Lehikoinen 21-14, 21-13.
2013 Asian Junior champion Soo Teck Zhi kept Malaysia’s flag flying when he outplayed Sweden’s Mattias Borg 21-10, 21-14 in 31 minutes to earn a quarter-final clash against Denmark’s Emil Holst. The 15th seeded Dane beat Germany’s Dieter Domke 21-17, 21-11 in the third round.
Malaysia could have a third singles player in the quarter-finals. Goh Soon Huat was playing Kestutis Navickas of Lithuania in a late match.
In the men’s doubles former World No 1 and Asian Games gold medallists Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong registered a whirlwind 21-17, 21-18 win in only 17 minutes over George Galvas-Panagiotis Skarlatos of Greece.
The privateers finished runners-up in the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold in Bangkok last week,
Youth pair Lee Jian Yi-Lim Zhen Ting also cleared the first hurdle but it was not an easy match for the pair before they won 21-16, 19-21, 21-9 against Ukraine’s Gennadiy Natarov-Artern Pachtarev in 42 minutes.
SELECTED RESULTS (THIRD ROUND)
Men’s singles
Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin (Mas) beat Ville Lang (Fin) 22-20, 21-12
RMV Gurusaidutt (Ind) beat Dmytro Zavadsky (Ukr) 21-12, 21-11
Soo Teck Zhi (Mas) beat Mattias Borg (Swe) 21-10, 21-14
Ajay Jayaram (Ind) beat Kasper Lehikoinen (Fin) 21-14, 21-13
Emil Holst (Den) beat Dieter Domke (Ger) 21-17, 21-11
Men’s doubles (First round)
Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong (Mas) beat George Galvas-Panagiotis Skarlatos (Greece) 21-7, 21-8
Lee Jian Yi-Lim Zhen Ting (Mas) beat Gennadiy Natarov-Artern Pachtarev (Ukr) 21-16, 19-21, 21-9
