PETALING JAYA: Mixed doubles shuttlers Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie made a fine start in the Korean Open in their bid to snap their disappointing run of early round exits lately.
Soon Huat-Shevon held firm in the second game against Indonesia’s Adnan Maulana-Indah Jamil to come away with a 21-9, 22-20 win at the Suwon Gymnasium yesterday.
The world No. 8 pair are Malaysia’s best hope in the mixed doubles in the competition after the withdrawal of world champions and last year’s winners Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei.
Soon Huat-Shevon are hoping to regain their best form after suffering defeats in the early rounds in their last four outings including in the World Championships in Paris last month.
Standing in the independent duo’s way next in Korea are China’s world No. 25 Gao Jiaxuan-Wu Mengying.
Both pairs will be playing against each other for the first time.
Meanwhile, Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien also made it into the second round after beating Taiwan’s Liu Kuang-heng-Jheng Yu-chieh 21-13, 22-20.
Tien Ci-Chiew Sien though face a tricky task next against South Korea’s 2023 world champion Chae Yu-jung and her new partner Lee Jong-min.
Another Malaysian pair Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin though crashed out after going down fighting 23-21, 17-21, 19-21 to Thailand’s Ruttanapak Oupthong-Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat.
Pang Ron-Su Yin showed good fighting spirit to narrow the gap after trailing 3-10 in the third game but it was not enough in the end.
The defeat was another blow for the pair a day after they dropped four spots in the world rankings from No. 14 to No. 18 after suffering a second round exit in the China Masters.
In the men’s singles, world No. 20 Leong Jun Hao’s campaign also ended early after he narrowly lost 19-21, 24-26 to Indonesia’s world No. 21 Alwi Farhan.
World No. 37 Justin Hoh pulled off an impressive 21-6, 21-19 win over China’s world No. 19 Wang Zhengxing.
Justin though is expected to face a tough hurdle next against Denmark’s world No. 2 Anders Antonsen.
Antonsen is the favourite in his first round match against homester Yoo Tae-bin.
