Bangkok: Malaysia’s two Rio Olympic silver medal pairs have earned their spots in the men’s doubles and mixed doubles quarter-finals of Thailand Masters respectively on Thursday.
Though they haven’t been playing together for about half a year, Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong brushed aside Hong Kong’s Lam Wai Lok/Li Kuen Hon 21-7, 21-11 in just 18 minutes to reach the quarter-finals.
The No. 3 seeds Goh/Tan will meet Supak Jomkoh/Pakin Kuna-Anuvit of Thailand next.
Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying fended off a ferocious second set comeback from Yantoni Edy Saputra/Marsheilla Gischa Islami to defeat the Indonesian pair 21-14, 21-19. The No. 5 seeds Chan/Goh will set up a quarter-final meeting with No. 3 seeds Sawan Serasinghe/Setyana Mapasa of Australia.
Another Malaysian mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie/Peck Yin Wei also advanced to the quarter-final by notching up a victory against French pair Bastian Kersaudy/Lea Palermo 21-7, 21 -11. Chen/Peck will play Akbar Bintang Cahyono/Winny Oktavina Kandow of Indonesia on Friday.
“I’m really happy because this was the first time I’m able to enter Thailand Masters quarter-finals. So, we are going to make some preparations to face the Indonesia pair who defeated us at Singapore International Challenge last year,” said Peck.
In men’s singles, the 19-year-old Leong Jun Hao booked his spot in the quarter-final after a hard-fought win over Firman Abdul Kholik of Indonesia. Leong came back from 18-20 to eventually take the first set 25-23, before winning the second set 21-12. He will take on No. 4 seed Hu Yun of Hong Kong in the quarter-final.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s independent player Daren Liew also produced a surprise victory by beating experienced player from Hong Kong, Wei Nan, 21-17, 21-11 to play Thai player Suppanyu Avihingsanon next.
Women’s singles No. 4 seed Soniia Cheah also confirmed a ticket to the quarter-finals by eliminating Thai player Thamolwan Poorpradubsil 21-14, 21-10.
In an all-Malaysian women’s singles second round match, unseeded Selvaduray Kisona pulled of an upset by beating No. 8 seed Goh Jin Wei 21-18, 13-21, 21-10 in 51 minutes. Cheah will face Natsumi Shimoda of Japan while Kisona will take on compatriot Lee Ying Ying on Friday.
