Sydney: Mixed doubles No. 7 seeds Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying remained as Malaysia’s sole survivors after Koo Kien Keat/ Tan Boon Heong were knocked out from the Australian Open held at the Sydney Olympic Park Australia on Friday.
Chan/Goh defeated China’s unseeded Liu Yuchen/Tang Jinhua with 21-15, 21-15 in 38 minutes. The Malaysian pair will play No. 8 seeds Lu Kai/Huang Yaqiong in the final four on Saturday.
Lu Kai/Huang Yaqiong brushed aside compatriots and No. 4 seeds Liu Cheng/Bao Yixin 21-9, 21-16 to reach the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong who pulled off a shocker against men’s singles No. 1 seeds Mohamad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia on Thursday, have bowed out of the Australian Open after going down 18-21 and 18-21 to another Indonesian pair Berry Angriawan and Rian Agung Saputro in 42 minutes.
The Australian Open offers total prize money of US$750,000 (RM3.043 million), lost its prestigious Super Series attraction after big names such as Lee Chong Wei, Lin Dan, and Carolina Marin have withdrawn from the tournament in the last minute.
