National No 1 Lee Zii Jia led two other Malaysians into the second round in the men’s singles in the USD500,000 Yonex Chinese Taipei Open in Taipei on Wednesday.
The fourth-seeded Zii Jia flayed local Hsueh Hsuan Yi in straight games 21-7, 21-17 in 29 minutes to earn a second-round clash against Indonesian youngster Shesar Hiren Rhustavito who upset reigning world junior champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn 19-21, 21-18, 21-17.
Qualifier Cheam June Wei continued with his winning ways with a 21-19, 21-15 win over Ihsan Maulana Mustofa and will take on Lin Yu Hsien of Chinese Taipei for a place in the last eight while professional Liew Daren prevailed 21-18, 21-18 against Japan’s Yu Igarashi.
Daren battles Frenchman Thomas Rouxel who had earlier defeated Malaysia’s SEA Games bound Soong Joo Ven 23-21, 21-12 in a 38-minute first-round match.
There was also good news for Malaysia in the men’s doubles with third seeds Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik making the second round – needing only 25-minutes to beat Chinese Taipei pair Lin Shang Kai-Tseng Min Hao 21-13, 21-12.
The Malaysians will be up against Indonesians Wahyu Nayaka Arya Pangkaryanira-Ade Yusu Santoso in the second round.
No 4 seeds, professionals Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong were taken to three games by Indonesia’s Akbar Bintang Cahyono-Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani – winning 21-9, 18-21, 21-11. Their second-round opponents are Danny Bawa Chrisnanta-Loh Kean Yean of Singapore.
However, it was the end of the road for Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin who fell 20-22, 14-21 to Indonesia’s top seeds Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto in a 35-minute first-round encounter.RIZAL ABDULLAH
