In with a chance: Malaysia’s Man Wei Chong (right) and Tee Kai Wun cleared the first round in the men’s doubles yesterday and could go far in the Taiwan Open.
PETALING JAYA: National men’s doubles pair Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun have a great opportunity to go far in the Taiwan Open in the absence of the world’s top ranked pairs and they are grabbing it with both hands.
The world No. 36 came through their first-round match against Taiwan’s Chang Ko-chi-Po Li-wei, winning 21-19, 11-21, 21-12 in 49 minutes.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun will meet another Taiwanese pair Cheng Kai-wen-Liu Kuang-heng in the second round today.
With only one top 10 pair in the fray in the shape of yet another home pair, Tokyo Olympic champions Lee Yang-Wang Chi-lin, Wei Chong-Kai Wun have a good chance to reach the medal rounds.
They have even been separated in the draw from the world No. 4 pair and will not meet them until the final.
The Malaysian pair, however, are not getting ahead of themselves just yet.
“We are glad that we managed to recover and win our first-round match after dropping the second game.
“We’re not thinking about going far in this tournament in the absence of many top pairs as we just want to perform well in every match. We will give our all in the second round today,” said Wei Chong.
Meanwhile, it turned out to be a perfect day for Malaysia in the men’s doubles as independent pairs Goh V Shem-Lim Khim Wah and Boon Xin Yuan-Wong Tien Ci booked their spots in the second round.
V Shem-Khim Wah, who were playing in their first tournament since they decided to pair up again, recorded a come-from-behind 13-21, 21-19, 21-12 victory over homesters Chiu Hsiang-chieh-Yang Ming-tse.
They will next play another home pair Lee Chia-han-Lin Yong-sheng for a place in the quarter-finals.
Xin Yuan-Tien Ci overcame Vinson Chiu-Joshua Yuan of the United States and will take on local pair and world No. 24 Lu Ching Yao-Yang Po-han next.
In the men’s singles, Soong Joo Ven battled hard to claim a 15-21, 21-17, 21-16 win over fellow independent shuttler Cheam June Wei.
Joo Ven has a tricky task against Japan’s Koki Watanabe in the second round.
Joining him will be Leong Jun Hao, who swept aside India’s Subhankar Dey 21-11, 21-17 but has an uphill battle against homester and world No. 16 Wang Tzu-wei next.
In the women’s singles, Birmingham Commonwealth Games-bound Goh Jin Wei and Eoon Qi Xuan cleared their respective opening round hurdles but S. Kisona’s woes continued when she was eliminated.
Jin Wei disposed of India’s Tanya Hemanth 21-14, 21-10 while Qi Xuan was equally dominant in her 21-12, 21-18 win over Czech Republic’s Tereza Svabikova.
Jin Wei will next play Indonesia’s Komang Devi while Qi Xuan will meet US player Lauren Lam.
Kisona, meanwhile, suffered a shock 15-21, 11-21 defeat to India’s unheralded Samiya Farooqui.
