Hong Kong: Malaysia’s challenge in the Hong Kong Open Superseries ended when all Malaysian shuttlers were knocked out of the quarterfinals held at Hong Kong Coliseum in Kowloon on Friday.
World No. 1 men’s pair Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong was Malaysia’s strong hope of winning the men’s doubles title after the withdrawal of World No. 1 men’s singles player Lee Chong Wei. However, they couldn’t maintain their consistency to end up losing to Mohammad Ahsan/Rian Agung Saputro of Indonesia in the quarter-finals of Hong Kong Open.
Goh/Tan started off slowly against the Indonesian pair and lost the first set easily 11-21. The Malaysian pair managed to regain their rhythm to claim the second set 21-17. Unfortunately, the No. 1 seeds Malaysian pair failed to put up much resistance in the third, getting broken by the aggressive Ahsan/Saputro late in the decider to lose 17-21.
Meanwhile, No. 4 seeds Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen were pushed to the limit by Malaysia’s young pair Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi before emerged victorious in 3-sets 21-14, 18-21, 21-13.
Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen will play Ahsan/Saputro in the semifinals on Saturday.
In men’s singles, the 2015 Singapore SEA Games gold medalist Chong Wei Feng couldn’t notch up another victory in quarter-final after squandering a 20-19 advantage in the second set to bow out 17-21, 21-23 in 47 minutes.
The unseeded Indian will play third seeded Danish Jan O Jorgensen. Jorgensen powered past Vincent Wong Wing Ki of Hong Kong 21-19, 21-17 in other men’s singles quarter-final.
