Huge milestone: Soong Joo Ven stunned Taiwan’s world No. 27 Wang Tzu-wei 21-19, 21-13 to march into the quarter-finals of the Syed Modi International in Lucknow. — AFP
PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Soong Joo Ven is enjoying his time on court again after struggling with form and fitness for most of the year.
World No. 74 Joo Ven pulled off his biggest win of the year when he stunned Taiwan’s world No. 27 Wang Tzu-wei 21-19, 21-13 to march into the quarter-finals of the Syed Modi International in Lucknow yesterday.
Joo Ven played with aggression and intelligence throughout to come away with the impressive win.
The 28-year-old was delighted with his performance after his difficult time this year.
“I feel I played my best after a long time in this match,” said Joo Ven.
“I don’t think my win was down to any particular strategy but the key was I prepared well and was focused on every point.
“I’m really happy with the win. Physically, I’m back to my old self after a tough year.
“I’ve been working hard in training and it’s paying off,” added Joo Ven.
Joo Ven will take on world No. 49 Alex Lanier of France next for a place in the last four.
“I hope to continue doing well but it will be another tough game against the Frenchman,” said Joo Ven.
“He is a real fighter and I need to prepare well for the match.”
Joo Ven is the last Malaysian standing in the men’s singles after Cheam June Wei and Justin Hoh crashed out of the tournament.
June Wei went down fighting 21-17, 11-21, 17-21 to Taiwan’s Chi Yu-jen while Justin lost out 11-21, 21-23 to Indonesia’s world junior champion Alwi Farhan.
Meanwhile, in the women’s singles, Wong Ling Ching stormed into the last eight with a 21-15, 21-12 victory over home qualifier A. Janani.
World No. 83 Ling Ching, though, faces a tougher task next against Taiwan’s world No. 25 Wen Chi-hsu.
Meanwhile, world No. 70 K. Letshanaa’s run came to an end after she fell 18-21, 12-21 to Denmark’s world No. 21 Line Kjaersfeldt. (Malaysians only)FIRST ROUND
Men’s doubles: Choong Hon Jan-Mohd Haikal Nazri bt Tori Aizawa-Yuto Noda (Jpn) 22-20, 15-21, 21-13; Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi bt Hiroki Midorikawa-Kyohei Yamashita (Jpn) 22-20, 21-18.
Women’s doubles: Lee Chia-hsin-Teng Chun-hsun (Tpe) bt Go Pei Kee-Low Yeen Yuan 21-17, 21-11.
RESULTS
SECOND ROUND
Men’s singles: Soong Joo Ven bt Wang Tzu-wei (Tpe) 21-19, 21-13; Chi Yu-jen (Tpe) bt Cheam June Wei 17-21, 21-11, 21-17; Alwi Farhan (Ina) bt Justin Hoh 21-11, 23-21.
Men’s doubles: Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi bt A. Hariharan-Ruban Kumar (Ind) 21-6, 21-17.
Women’s singles: Wong Ling Ching bt A. Janani (Ind) 21-15, 21-12; Line Kjaersfeldt (Den) bt K. Letshanaa 21-18, 21-12.
Mixed doubles: Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin bt Nitin Kumar-Navdha Manglam (Ind) 21-13, 21-13; Terry Hee-Jessica Tan (Sin) bt Yap Roy King-Valeree Siow 16-21, 21-17, 21-15.
