KUALA LUMPUR: National men’s singles shuttler Justin Hoh made a solid start at the German Open by defeating Japan’s Takuma Obayashi in the first round early Thursday (Feb 27) morning.
His victory did not come easy, as he battled for 73 minutes before securing a hard-fought 21-19, 19-21, 21-19 win.
In the next round, he will face Singapore’s fifth seed Jason Teh, who earlier defeated Ireland’s Nhat Nhuyen 19-21, 21-16, 21-17.
Meanwhile, compatriot Cheam June Wei, now competing as an independent player, also impressed by advancing to the second round after comfortably dispatching Taiwan’s Su Li-yang 23-21, 21-13.
June Wei faces a tough challenge next as he is set to take on former world champion Loh Kean Yew.
It was a disappointing outing in the women’s singles, with both Malaysian representatives, K. Letshanaa and S. Kisona, bowing out early.
Letshanaa put up a fight against Denmark’s Line Christophersen but ultimately fell 22-20, 10-21, 15-21.
Kisona also suffered defeat, losing to India’s Rakshitha Sree Santosh 20-22, 21-5, 23-25.
In the women’s doubles, Go Pei Kee-Teoh Mei Xing cruised into the second round with a straightforward 21-12, 21-14 win over Germany’s Selin Hubsch and Amelie Lehmann.
They will next face China’s fifth-seeded pair, Chen Qingchen-Wang Tingge.
In the mixed doubles, second seeds Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin had little trouble in their opening match, easing past Algeria’s Koceila Mammeri-Tanina Violette Mammeri 21-11, 21-15.
They will now take on China’s Gao Jiaxuan and Wu Mengying.
Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien also delivered a stellar performance, pulling off an upset against Singapore’s fifth seeds Terry Hee-Jin Yu Jia with a 15-21, 24-22, 21-19 victory.
Their next challenge will be against the American duo, Presley Smith-Jennie Gai.
