Bangkok: The unseeded Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong fended off strong resistance from Chan Tsz Kit/Law Cheuk Him of Hong Kong before they outlasted the Hong Kong pair 21-17, 22-20 in 29 minutes in the men's doubles first round of Thailand Open on Wednesday.
Koo/Tan will face Thaptimdong Arkornnit/Boonyakorn Thumpanichwong of Thailand next, and are very like to move into quarter-finals to play either compatriots Chooi Kah Ming/Ow Yao Han or No. 8 seeds Wang Yilv/Zhang Wen of China.
Malaysia's independent pair Hoon Thien How/Lim Khim Wah were pushed to three-set, before they fought back from 12-17 down in the decider to beat young Chinese pair Han Chengkai/Zhou Haodong 15-21, 21-19, 21-18 in 56 minutes.
One day after winning a first-round match against Chaiyasit Sukasem, Malaysian men's singles shuttler Tan Chun Seang couldn’t rode his momentum into the quarter-finals when he suffered straight-sets 17-21, 15-21 loss on Wednesday to No. 15 seed Kazumasa Sakai of Japan.
In women's doubles, Malaysia's women's doubles shuttlers Woon Khe Wei/Vivian Hoo who made their first appearances since the World Championships in August, eased past Keshya Nurvita Hanadia/Devi Tika Permatasari of Indonesia 21-13, 21-5 to advance to the women's doubles second round that will take place on Thursday.
2015 SEA Games gold medalists Amelia Alicia Anscelly/Soong Fie Cho, however, were made to work before punching a ticket to the second round with a three-set 13-21, 21-11, 21-7 victory over Savitree Amitrapai/Pacharapun Chochuwong of Thailand. Adding joy to the Malaysian women's doubles department, Lim Yin Loo/Lee Meng Yean also defeated their Thai opponents to cruise into the second round.
As Malaysia's only representative in mixed doubles, Tan Aik Quan/Lai Pei Jing swept aside Wannawat Ampunsuwan/Pacharapun Chochuwong of Thailand 21-10, 21-13 to set up a clash with the 2015 SEA Games mixed doubles champions Praveen Jordan/Debby Susanto of Indonesia next.
