PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles shuttlers Mohd Haikal Nazri-Choong Hon Jian pulled off a stunning win over Taiwan’s world No. 12 Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan to reach the second round of the Australian Open.
World No. 34 Haikal-Hon Jian played brilliantly to come away with an impressive 21-10, 21-13 win over the Taiwanese duo in just 26 minutes at the Sydney Olympic Park on Tuesday (Nov 18).
The Malaysians will be out to build on their strong start when they face Indonesia’s world No. 32 Raymond Indra-Nikolaus Joaquin next for a place in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani and Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun will join Haikal-Hon Jian in the second round after also overcoming Taiwanese opponents.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun defeated Chiang Chien-wei-Wu Hsuan-yi 23-21, 21-16, while Sze Fei-Izzuddin swept aside He Zhi-wei-Huang Jui-hsuan 21-10, 21-10.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun will take on Denmark’s Rasmus Kjaer-Christian Kjaer next, while Sze Fei-Izzuddin will play the winners of the first round match between Taiwan’s Liu Kuang-heng-Yang Po-han and Australia’s Rizky Hidayat-Frengky Putra.
