PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles shuttlers Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani kept alive their slim chances of qualifying for the World Tour Finals by reaching the Japan Masters second round.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin convincingly beat South Korea’s Kang Min-hyuk-Ki Dong-ju 21-17, 21-13 in just 30 minutes at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium yesterday.
The independent pair are looking to take advantage of fellow Malaysians Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun’s surprise 19-21, 18-21 defeat to homesters Kyohei Yamashita-Hiroki Midorikawa in the opening round as they hope to pip them to a place in the prestigious Tour Finals from Dec 17-21 in Hangzhou.
For now, Wei Chong-Kai Wun still hold the advantage as they are third in the Race to Finals rankings while Sze Fei-Izzuddin are seventh.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin, who finished runners-up in the Tour Finals last year, need to win the title in Japan to have any chance of staying in contention for a spot this time.
The world No. 4 duo will next face the winners of the all-Japanese clash between Tori Aizawa-Daisuke Sano and Keiichiro Matsui-Katsuki Tamate for a place in the quarter-finals.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin are seeded second in the competition behind South Korea’s world No. 1 Seo Seung-jae-Kim Won-ho.
Meanwhile, there was also joy for Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi, Mohd Haikal Nazri-Choong Hon Jian, Tan Wee Kiong-Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub and Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi after all made it into the second round.
Roy King-Arif defeated Taiwan’s Chang Ko-chi-Po Li-wei 21-19, 21-12 while Haikal-Hon Jian beat homesters Kazuki Shibata-Naoki Yamada 21-19, 21-16.
Roy King-Arif will next play the winners of the match between Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Lucas Wedler and Japan’s Takumi Nomura-Yuichi Shimogami while Taiwan’s Liu Kuang-heng-Yang Po-han stand in Haikal-Hon Jian’s way.
Wee Kiong-Azriyn came out on top over Taiwan’s Lai Po-yu-Tsai Fu-cheng 21-16, 21-14 while Yew Sin-Ee Yi edged another Taiwanese duo Chen Zhi-ray-Lin Yu-chieh 21-18, 21-18.
Wee Kiong-Azriyn and Yew Sin-Ee Yi need to overcome Japan’s Kakeru Kumagai-Hiroki Nishi and Yamashita-Midorikawa respectively in the second round.
In the women’s doubles, youngsters Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting also progressed after impressively toppling Taiwan’s fifth seeds Hsieh Pei-shan-Hung En-tzu 22-20, 18-21, 21-10.
Xin Yee-Carmen will take on Japan’s Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara next.
RESULTS
Malaysians only
Qualifying round
Men’s singles: Jacky Kok bt Huang Yu-kai (Tpe) 16-21, 21-19, 21-15.
First round
Men’s doubles: Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani bt Kang Min-hyuk-Ki Dong-ju (Kor) 21-17, 21-13; Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi bt Chang Ko-chi-Po Li-wei (Tpe) 21-19, 21-12; Mohd Haikal Nazri-Choong Hon Jian bt Kazuki Shibata-Naoki Yamada (Jpn) 21-19, 21-16; Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi bt Chen Zhi-ray-Lin Yu-chieh (Tpe) 21-18, 21-18; Tan Wee Kiong-Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub bt Lai Po-yu-Tsai Fu-cheng 21-16, 21-14; Kyohei Yamashita-Hiroki Midorikawa (Jpn) bt Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun 21-19, 21-18.
Women’s doubles: Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting bt Hsieh Pei-shan-Hung En-tzu (Tpe) 22-20, 18-21, 21-10.
