Sibu: Malaysia’s Tan Kian Meng/Lai Pei Jing and Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jemie Lai continued their winning runs in the mixed doubles quarter-finals of Malaysia Masters that was being held at Sibu Indoor Stadium on Friday.
Despite almost squandering a 19-13 lead in the first set, the second seeds and World No. 9 Tan Kian Meng/Lai Pei Jing staved off the danger by capturing the first set 21-19 against No. 5 seeds Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong.
Tan/Lai then upped their level in the second set to overcome Tan/Tse 21-16. The Malaysian pair are set to play Tam Chun Hei-Ng Tsz Yau of Hong Kong next.
Talking to Malaysian media after the match, Tan Kian Meng said their level of competition was lower compared to their condition at the 2016 Macau Open.
“We are currently playing with more focus and ‘game play’. Although we are still not in 100% yet, but we came prepared,” said Tan.
After losing their first set, another Malaysian mixed doubles’ pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai staged an amazing come back to see off eighth-seeded Terry Hee Yong Kai-Tan Wei Han of Singapore, 15-21, 21-15, 21-13 in 49 minutes.
“We were a little nervous in the first set. For now, we will not think about the final, we just want to play one match at a time,” said Shevon Lai.
“We found our rhythm in the second set and were able to force the third set,” said Goh.
The sole Malaysian women’s singles player – Lee Ying Ying who made it to the quarter-finals, fizzled out on Friday after losing 18-21, 16-21 to No. 5 seed Yip Pui Yin of Hong Kong.
In men’s doubles, unseeded Malaysian men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin fought off a resilient display from Mak Hee Chun/Tam Chun Hei 22-20, 21-16 to set up a semi-final clash with Hendra Aprida Gunawan/Markis Kido of Indonesia.
Malaysia’s women’s doubles pair and No. 4 seeds Lim Yin Loo/Yap Cheng Wen also advanced to the semi-finals. They will play Poon Lok Yan/Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong on Saturday.
