Taipei: Zulfadli Zulkiffli was given a fright before reaching the second round of the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix on Wednesday. The No. 2 seed beat Reksy Aureza Megananda 21-19, 21-23, 21-14 but needed 76 minutes to set up a second round clash against the qualifier Hsieh Feng Tse of Taiwan.
Men’s singles No. 5 seed Daren Liew also eased into the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix second round, defeating Nicholas Bonkowsky of Trinidad/Tobago 21-11, 21-9 in 19 minutes.
Another Malaysian men’s singles that made it to the second round was Chong Yee Han. He will square off with No. 9 seed Ginting Anthony of Indonesia for a spot in the third round.
Muhammad Hafiz Hashim, Zulhelmi Zulkiffli, Tan Chun Seang, Lim Chi Wing, and Yeoh Kay Ee — were all eliminated in the first round.
Meanwhile, men’s singles No. 1 seed Nguyen Tien Minh defeated Yang Chih Hsun of the host country 21-16, 21-17 in a 34-minute to advance to the second round of the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix.
Nguyen will next meet Indonesian player Simon Santoso who beat Lee Hock Lai of USA 21-10, 21-12 on Wednesday.
The second round fight will likely be tough for Nguyen as Santoso enjoyed a 4-0 head to head record against Nguyen since 2006.
Other Malaysian shuttlers that made it to the second round were Lim Sien Chiew in women’s singles; Tan Chee Tean/Jemie Lai Shevon and Tan Kian Meng/Peck Yen Wei in mixed doubles; Tan Wee Gieen/Teo Ee Yi and Hoon Thien How/Lim Khim Wah in men’s doubles; Lim Yin Loo/Lee Meng Yean and Goh Yea Ching/Yao Zhen in women’s doubles.
