Seoul: Never, ever write them off. Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jemie Lai’s dream of a deep run at Korea Open is alive they survived an early scare against Lee Yang/Hsu Ya Ching of Taiwan in the mixed doubles first round of Korea Open on Tuesday.
Outgunned in the first set by the speedy Taiwanese pair, Goh/Lai pulled themselves back in the second set, fending off the late surge from Lee/Hsu in the second set before squeezing out a 21-19 victory.
Goh/Lai clearly in control in the decider, beating the Taiwanese 21-17 to advance to the second round. They will meet compatriots and No. 6 seeds Tan Kian Meng/Lai Pei Jing on Thursday.
Another Malaysian mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon/Cheah Yee See also cruised into the second round, easing past Yugo Kobayashi/Misaki Matsutomo of Japan 21-18, 21-9. However, Chan/Cheah are facing an uphill battle in the second round as they will face No. 2 seeds Chris Adcock/Gabrielle Adcock of England.
At the end of Tuesday, scratch pair from Korea, Seo Seung Jae/Kim Ha Na produced the biggest surprise of the day, upsetting eight-seeded Reginald Lee Chun Hei/Chau Hoi Wah of Hong Kong 21-18, 17-21, 21-11 in 48 minutes to move into second round.
