Basel: Former World No. 1 pair Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong again showed incredible resilience on Friday, coming from one set down to battle back against England pair Marcus Ellis/Chris Langridge in quarter-finals of Swiss Open at the St Jakobshalle Arena in Basel, Switzerland.
Koo/Tan became Malaysia’s sole representatives in the US$120,000 (RM486, 500) tournament after women’s doubles Vivian Hoo Kah Mun/Woon Khe Wei faded in the quarterfinals. Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong will take on Taiwan’s No. 4 seeds Lee Sheng Mu/Tsai Chia Hsin next for a final berth.
Marc Zwiebler of Germany did the unthinkable and pulled off one of the biggest upset in men’s singles event when he needed 74 minutes to beat No. 2 seed Taiwanese Chou Tien Chen 21-23, 21-14, 21-19. Zwiebler will play Henri Hurskainen of Sweden who won the quarter-finals match without breaking a sweat after his opponent Xue Song of China retired from the match.
Malaysia’s challenge in the women’s doubles event fizzled out on Friday after No. 4 seeds Vivian Hoo Kah Mun/Woon Khe Wei bowed out with an unexpected loss in straight sets, 16-21, 16-21 to the eighth seeds, Jongkolphan Kititharakul/Rawinda Prajongjai of Thailand.
In women’s singles, India’s Saina Nehwal saw off seventh seed Japanese Sayaka Sato 13-21, 21-15, 21-14 and will face-off against No. 3 seed Wang Yihan of China next.
Meanwhile, Nehwal’s younger compatriot two-time World Championship bronze medalist Sindhu lost 13-21, 15-21 to He Bingjiao of China in other women’s singles quarterfinals. He Bingjiao will play another Chinese women’s shuttler No. 5 seed Sun Yu on Saturday.
