Not all’s lost: Hon Jian (left) and Haikal went down 16-21, 20-22 to Indonesia’s Sabar Gutama-Moh Reza.
PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles pair Choong Hon Jian-Mohd Haikal Nazri can hold their heads high despite seeing their campaign in the Swiss Open come to an end.
Hon Jian-Haikal went down 16-21, 20-22 to Indonesia’s Sabar Gutama-Moh Reza in the last eight on Friday.
Hon Jian-Haikal had beaten the latter to capture their first title of the year in the Orleans Masters but they could not replicate their performance this time as the Indonesian pair exacted sweet revenge.
Despite the defeat, it was still a good outing overall in Europe for the rising pair, who are set to break into the world’s top 30 after this. Hon Jian-Haikal had moved from No. 40 to No. 32 in the rankings after winning the Orleans tourney.
The duo were only combined last August but have progressed quickly up the ranks and already have three titles to their names after also winning the back-to-back Syed Modi International and Indian Masters at the end of last year.
Hon Jian-Haikal can now qualify for World Tour Super 750 and 1000 competitions and do not need to go through the qualifying rounds in Super 500 events.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s challenge in the men’s doubles in the Swiss tourney is over after Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun also crashed out.
World No. 18 Wei Chong-Kai Wun lost out 14-21, 21-23 to Indonesia’s world No. 13 Leo Rolly-Daniel Marthin.
Mixed doubles pairs Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei and Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie though kept the Malaysian flag flying high by storming into the semi-finals.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei dug deep to overcome Thailand’s Supak Jomkoh-Supissara Paewsampran 21-18, 17-21, 21-15 to set up a meeting with Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei-Lee Chia-hsin.
Soon Huat-Shevon were in their element when they swept aside Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje 21-15, 21-10.
The independent pair will face Dutch duo Robin Tabeling-Selena Piek next for a place in the final.
