Laboured win: Choong Hon Jian and Muhammad Haikal Nazri are through to the second round.
PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles shuttlers Choong Hon Jian-Mohd Haikal Nazri overcame a second game blip to make it into the second round of the Orleans Masters.
World No. 40 Hon Jian-Haikal were made to sweat by fellow Malaysians Jimmy Wong-Lwi Shenghao before prevailing 21-16, 20-22, 21-11 in a 55-minute opening match in Orleans on Tuesday.
Hon Jian-Haikal will play Denmark’s world No. 69 William Kryger-Christian Faust next for a place in the quarter-finals.
The former are the fourth seeds in the tournament and are out to capture their first title of the year in the absence of the world’s top pairs, who are all currently competing in the All-England in Birmingham.
The 21-year-old Haikal had reached the final in the 2022 edition with his partner at that time, Wan Arif Wan Junaidi, but was forced to concede a walkover against Dutch pair Ruben Jille-Ties Van Der Lecq after he tested positive for Covid-19 on the eve of the title match.
Though eager for a better outcome this time, Haikal is not underestimating the challenge of any of the other pairs in the competition.
“We cannot afford to look down on any pairs as our ranking is just a number and lower ranked pairs are capable of causing upsets on their day,” Haikal had said in the lead-up to the tournament.
“Hon Jian and I have also beaten higher ranked pairs before. So, we just need to play our best in every match.”
Meanwhile, independent mixed doubles pair Owen Ting-Gan Jing Err’s campaign ended early after they went down 15-21, 14-21 to Denmark’s Jesper Toft-Clara Graversen in the first-round.
