PETALING JAYA: Independent pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi endured a long match against super defensive pair Kenya Mitsuhashi-Hiroki Okamura of Japan before battling their way into the Swiss Open quarter-finals in Basel yesterday.
Yew Sin-Ee Yi, the third seeds, were forced to come from behind to overcome Mitsuhashi-Okamura 15-21, 21-13, 21-15 in the second-round match that lasted 60 minutes.
The Malaysian world No. 8 were wary of the Japanese pair who came through the qualifying rounds and also upset Indonesian pair Pramudya Kusumawardana-Yeremia Rambitan in the first round on Wednesday.
Independent coach Rosman Razak said Yew Sin-Ee Yi were prepared for the tough match as they were aware of their opponents’ strength which was their tight defence.
“The Japanese pair had upset the Indonesian pair in the first round and they continued to play well today (yesterday). The defence was very solid and it was hard for Yew Sin-Ee Yi to kill the rallies,” said Rosman.
“They had to remain aggressive in the second and third games. There were so many long rallies but they managed to overcome the Japanese pair.
“It was really a long and tiring game for them.”
On Wednesday, young mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei and independent combination Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie had reached he second round.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei had beaten Nicholas Mueller-Ronja Stern of Switzerland 21-11, 21-13 while Soon Huat-Shevon overcame experienced Indonesian pair Praveen Jordan-Melati Daeva 13-21, 21-15, 22-20 in their opening round matches respectively.
However, world No. 6 Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing were shown the early exit when they lost 16-21, 16-21 by Yang Po-hsuan-Hu Ling-fang of Taiwan in the first round.
