Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying got off to a flying start by advancing to the second round of the 2018 Indonesia Masters that was held in Jakarta on Tuesday.
The No. 6 seeds who turned professional after quitting the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) early January, needed 35 minutes to dispatch Akbar Bintang Cahyono/Winny Oktavina Kandow of Indonesia 21-19, 21-19 in the opening round at Istora Senayan Stadium.
Chan/Goh will take on the winners between Ben Lane/Jessica Pugh of England or Lin Chia Yu/Hsu Ya Ching of Taiwan next.
Another Malaysian pair, Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jemie Lai were made to work hard by Marvin Emil Seidel/Linda Efler of Germany before eking out an 18-21, 21-19, 21-12 victory.
Goh/Lai will meet England’s husband and wife pair, No. 7 seeds Chris Adcock/Gabrielle Adcock in the second round.
However, despite strong play on their end, Tan Kian Meng/Lai Pei Jing continued to struggle by going down to Hafiz Faizal/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja of Indonesia 12-21, 21-13, 18-21.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s men’s singles shuttler – Iskandar Zulkarnain, couldn’t advance to the main draw by losing his second qualifying match to Shesar Hiren Rhustavito of Indonesia 17-21, 15-21.
