KUALA LUMPUR: It was a double blow for Malaysia’s second echelon of men’s singles shuttlers in the Indonesian Open Grand Prix Gold in Yogyakarta Thursday.
None of them made the cut for the third round. It was a day to forget for Goh Soon Huat, the country’s top back-up shuttler.
Soon Huat, the Malaysian Open GP Gold winner, was forced to concede a walkover to Reksy Aureza Megananda after suffering an injury. He was then trailing 18-21, 9-15.
It was also a bad day for Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin, Loh Wei Sheng and independent shuttler Mohd Arif Abdul Latif. 
Iskandar and Wei Sheng cleared their second round matches in convincing fashion but they were a class below the Indonesians in the next round round.
Iskandar was beaten 13-21, 12-21 by second seed Sony Dwi Kuncoro, the 2007 World Championships runners-up, in just 32 minutes. The former No. 1 Indonesian shuttler is coming back from a back injury and out to prove to coaching director Rexy Mainaky that he still deserves a place in the national team.
Wei Sheng failed to break the resolve of third seed Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka, losing 16-21, 20-22 in 38 minutes.
Hopes were high on Arif to go far in the tournament as he was up against unheralded Christie Jonatan. But Christie showed his class with a 21-16, 18-21, 21-18 win.
It was also all over for the scratch combination of Lee Meng Yean-Lim Yin Loo in the women’s doubles. They went down 21-123, 19-21 to China’s Luo Ying-Luo Yu in a 49-minute battle.
Yin Loo, however, managed to stay alive in the mixed doubles. She and Ong Jian Guo reached the quarter-finals by beating Indonesians Yodhi Satrio-Mahadewi Istirani Ni Ketut 21-10, 21-12. The Malaysians will take on another Indonesian pair, Edi Subaktiar-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaya, for a place in the last four.
