PETALING JAYA: National men's doubles pair Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik kicked off their China Masters campaign with a victory in their opening round against Indonesia’s Shohibul Fikri and Daniel Marthin on Tuesday (Nov 19).
The fifth-seeded duo won 21-12, 21-18 against the world No. 33 Indonesians in Shenzhen, setting up a second-round clash with compatriots Tan Wee Kiong and Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub.
The 35th-ranked Wee Kiong and Azriyn secured their first win in China by defeating Thailand’s Peeratchai Sukphun and Pakkapon Teeraratsakul 21-19, 21-15.
Joining them in the men's doubles second round are Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, who came from behind to defeat Japan’s Kenya Mitsuhashi and Hiroki Okamura in the first round.
The seventh-seeded Malaysians played for an hour but advanced to the second round after winning 21-23, 21-14, 21-13, and will face either Taiwan’s Chiu Hsiang-chieh and Wang Chi-lin or Lee Fang-chih and Lee Fang-jen next.
In the mixed doubles category, fourth seed Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei also staged a comeback to beat Taiwanese duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan, winning 21-23, 21-9, 21-12.
They may face France’s Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue or China’s Zhou Zhihong and Bao Lijing next.
However, mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Lai Jemie suffered a quick exit as the Chinese duo Guo Xinwa and Cheng Fanghui secured a swift 21-9, 21-9 victory in just 27 minutes.
