PETALING JAYA: All four Malaysian men’s doubles pairs shone in the second round of the French Open on Thursday (Oct 23), scoring impressive wins to book their places in the quarter-finals.
World No. 5 duo Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun finally ended the fine run of England’s Ben Lane-Sean Vendy, who had beaten three Malaysian pairs over the past three weeks, with a 13-21, 21-19, 21-14 victory.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun, however, face a tougher task next as they are set to take on world No. 1 pair Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae of South Korea in the quarter-finals on Friday (Oct 24).
Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani were also made to work hard before prevailing 18-21, 23-21, 21-14 against Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan to set up a last-eight clash with Denmark’s Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen.
Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King continued their fine form by brushing aside China’s Xie Haonan-Zeng Weihan 21-12, 21-17 to earn a meeting with Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian-Shohibul Fikri.
In an all-Malaysian showdown, second seeds Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik edged past Teo Ee Yi-Ong Yew Sin 21-10, 24-22 to march into the quarter-finals, where they will take on another Indonesian pair, Sabar Gutama-Reza Isfahani.
Meanwhile, in the women’s doubles, Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah kept up their momentum by defeating China’s Bao Lijing-Zhang Shuxian 22-20, 21-15 to advance. They will now face a stern test against familiar rivals Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan.
Pearly-Thinaah have managed only one win in nine previous encounters against the four-time world champions.
Coincidentally, their last meeting was also in Paris, during the semi-finals of the Paris Olympics in August last year.
