Marching on: Tan Kian Meng (back) and Lai Pei Jing beat French world No. 13 duo Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue to reach the second round of the All-England.
PETALING JAYA: Mixed doubles pair Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing pulled off an impressive comeback win over French world No. 13 duo Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue to reach the second round of the All-England.
The Malaysian world No. 25 Kian Meng-Pei Jing faced an uphill task after losing the first game 12-21 but showed great determination and fighting spirit to recover well and win the next two games 21-19, 21-14 in a thrilling 70-minute opening match at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham yesterday.
It was the independent pair’s first victory over the French pair after losing both their past encounters in the Thailand and Swiss Opens in 2021.
Kian Meng-Pei Jing were pleased to come away with the win after their slow start.
“We did not perform well in the first game but we managed to win a really close second game,” said Pei Jing in a post match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
“In the third game, we were focusing on each point and did not want to make easy mistakes.
“We had a healthy lead but still did not want to give our opponents any chance to catch up and we are happy that we made it.”
Kian Meng-Pei Jing will next take on either Hong Kong’s world No. 8 Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet or Indonesia’s world No. 16 Rehan Naufal-Lisa Ayu in the second round.
Meanwhile, men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik also made it into the second round after beating teammates Goh Sze Fei-Nur-Izzuddin Rumsani 21-19, 21-17.
Aaron-Wooi Yik will next face Taiwan’s Chang Ko-chi-Po Li-wei for a place in the last eight.
Aaron was relieved to survive the tricky test.
“It’s never easy facing our teammates and we are happy to get the win today (yesterday),” said Aaron.
“We were leading in both games but were a bit tense and Sze Fei-Izzuddin kept chasing us.
“Thankfully, we managed to calm ourselves down and close out the match.”
