PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s two men’s singles players, Justin Hoh and Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin, delivered strong performances to secure their places in the main draw of the Hong Kong Open after advancing through the qualifying rounds on Tuesday (Sept 9).
Justin kicked off his campaign at the Hong Kong Coliseum in Kowloon with a comfortable win over compatriot Jacky Kok, 21-7, 21-11.
A few hours later, he faced Tharun Mannepalli, who had earlier eliminated former world No. 1 K. Srikanth 28-26, 21-13. The match proved closely contested, with Justin prevailing in three sets 21-23, 21-13, 21-17 to reach the main draw.
Aidil also impressed, cruising past Canada’s Sheng Xiaodong 21-10, 21-19 before defeating England’s Ngan Heng Lin 21-7, 21-13.
Cheam June Wei, however, suffered an early exit after losing to India’s Kiran George 14-21, 13-21.
The tournament’s biggest upset came from Canada’s newly crowned World Championships bronze medallist Victor Lai, who was defeated by local player Jason Gunawan 12-21, 15-21. Victor had earlier beaten Macau’s Pui Pang Fong 21-10, 22-20, while Jason overcame Indonesia’s Zaki Ubaidullah 21-15, 21-13.
