Tough fight: Goh V Shem (right) and Low Juan Shen in action against Indonesia’s Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana in the men’s doubles match. — GLENN GUAN/The Star
GOH V Shem-Low Juan Shen will be parting ways soon but the doubles pair appear to be saving their best for last after stunning Indonesia’s All-England champions Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana in the first round of the Malaysian Masters.
In what was the independent pair’s biggest win so far, they fought till the end to come away with a 15-21, 21-14, 21-19 victory over their 20th ranked opponents in 51 minutes to send the fans at the Axiata Arena into raptures.
“Finally, we managed to beat a top 20 pair in a tournament and make our way into the second round,” said a thrilled V Shem.
“Before this, we tend to lose in our opening match. Only once, we beat our teammates (Nur Azriyn Ayub-Lim Khim Wah) to reach the second round of the Korean Open in April.
“We are really happy to finally get this breakthrough. Now, we need to prepare well for the next match.”
V Shem is hoping to end his partnership with Juan Shen on a high and he has this tournament and the Singapore Open (July 12-17) to do so.
Then, the Olympic silver medallist will team up with Khim Wah.
Meanwhile, national No. 1 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun and young pair Chang Yee Jun-Yap Roy King also moved into the second round.
Aaron-Wooi Yik, who are trying to bounce back from their semi-final loss in the Malaysian Open, defeated Japan’s Akira Koga-Taichi Saito 21-16, 21-19.
In the second round, they will face South Korean veterans Kim Gi-jung-Kim Sa-rang.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun swept aside Azriyn Ayub-Khim Wah 21-13, 21-14 while Yee Jun-Roy King beat Ireland’s Joshua Magee-Paul Reynolds 21-14, 22-20.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun are guaranteed to face compatriots again as they will take on the winners of the match between Boon Xin Yuan-Wong Tien Ci and Mohd Haikal Nazri-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi.
Yee Jun-Roy King face a tough task as they will likely play China’s He Jiting-Zhao Haodong.
In the women’s doubles, Anna Cheong-Teoh Mei Xing moved into the second round after getting the better of Thai sisters Benyapa and Nuntakarn Aimsaard 21-19, 21-17.
They face a likely rematch against Japan’s Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara in the second round after losing to them in the quarter-finals of last week’s Malaysian Open.
RESULTS
(Malaysians unless stated)
First qualifying round
Men’s singles: Leong Jun Hao bt Cheam June Wei 16-21, 21-15, 21-16; Ng Tze Yong bt Yeong Seng Zoe bt 21-12, 21-13; Soong Joo Ven bt Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin 14-21, 21-14, 21-16; Sun Feixiang (Chn) bt Lucas Claerbout (Fra) 9-21, 21-13, 21-18; Ade Resky Dwicahyo (Azb) bt Ygor Coelho (Bra) 21-19, 21-10; Lee Dong-keun (Kor) bt Adham Elgamal (Egy) 21-12, 21-14; Weng Hongyang (Chn) bt Kai Schaefer (Ger) 22-20, 21-18; Victor Svendsen (Den) bt Arnaud Merkle (Fra) 22-20, 21-17.
Men’s doubles: Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang (Chn) bt Chia Weijie-Low Hang Yee 21-16, 21-15.
Women’s singles: Goh Jin Wei bt Malvika Bansod (Ind) 21-10, 21-17; Thet Thuzar (Mya) bt Lauren Lam (US) 21-15, 21-19; Kristin Kuuba (Est) bt Ruselli Hartawan (Ina) 19-21, 21-19, 21-17.
Women’s doubles: Pichamon Phatcharaphisutsin-Nannapas Sukklad (Tha) bt Yujia Jin-Crystal Wong (Sin) 24-22, 18-21, 21-16; Febriana Kusuma-Amalia Pratiwi (Ina) bt Hsu Ya-ching-Lin Wan-ching (Tpe) 20-22, 21-14, 21-14; Melani Mamahit-Nadia Tryola (Ina) bt Kittipak Dubthuk-Prinda Pattanawaritthipan (Tha) 21-11, 21-11; Supissara Paewsampran-Putita Supajirakul (Tha) bt Yap Rui Chen-Yap Yee 21-16, 21-8.
Mixed doubles: Kim Won-ho-Jeong Na-eun (Kor) bt Oliver Leydon-Davis-Anona Pak (Nzl) 21-13, 21-12.
Second qualifying round
Men’s singles: Ng Tze Yong bt Lee Dong Keun (Kor) 21-8, 21-12; Leong Jun Hao bt Weng Hongyang 5-21, 21-17, 21-13; Soong Joo Ven bt Victor Svendsen 21-9, 16-21, 21-10; Sun Feixiang (Chn) bt Ade Resky Dwicahyo (Azb) 21-5, 21-17.
First round
Men’s doubles: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik bt Akira Koga-Taichi Saito (Jpn) 21-16, 21-19; Goh V Shem-Low Juan Shen bt Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana (Ina) 15-21, 21-14, 21-19; Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun bt Nur Azriyn Ayub-Lim Khim Wah 21-13, 21-14; Chang Yee Jun-Yap Roy King bt Joshua Magee-Paul Reynolds (Irl) Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto (Ina) bt Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani 21-14, 22-20; Kim Gi-jung-Kim Sa-rang (Kor) bt Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan 14-21, 21-15, 21-19; Mark Lamsfuss-Marvin Seidel (Ger) bt Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae 21-17, 21-18; Mohd Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan (Ina) bt Tan Kian Meng-Tan Wee Kiong 21-18, 21-13.
Women’s doubles: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah bt Treesa Jolly-Gayathri Gopichand (Ind) 21-14, 21-14; Anna Cheong-Teoh Mei Xing bt Benyapa Aimsaard-Nuntakarn Aimsaard (Tha) 21-19, 21-17; Febby Gani-Ribka Sugiarto bt Low Yeen Yuan-Valeree Siow 21-12, 21-17; Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan (Chn) bt Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien 21-17, 23-21.
