Paris: Malaysia’s campaign at the 2016 French Open came to a disappointing end with Zulfadli Zulkiffli, Tan Kian Meng/Lai Pei Jing all exiting from the tournament held in Paris on Thursday.
World No. 34 Zulfadli Zulkiffli was Malaysia’s last hope in the men’s singles category after World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei withdrew from the tournament in the opening day while other men’s singles players were sent packing on Wednesday.
Former World junior champion Zulfadli Zulkiffli was struggling against No. 6 seed Son Wan Ho of Korea from the get-go, losing 15-21 to the Korean in the first set. Although Zulkiffli bounced back with a strong start in the second set, he squandered an 8-3 lead to end up losing the second set 14-21.
Son will play Hsu Jen Hao of Taiwan next.
In a toiling and grueling match lasting for 63 minutes, Tan Kian Meng/Lai Pei Jing lost the three-set match to 2016 All England Champions and second seeded Praveen Jordan-Debby Susanto of Indonesia 22-20, 14-21, 21-16.
Praveen Jordan-Debby Susanto will set up a quarter-finals match against No. 7 seeds Zheng Siwei/Chen Qingchen of China on Friday.
