PETALING JAYA: The loud cheers of youngster Cheng Su Yin played a key role as she and Jimmy Wong marched into the second round of the mixed doubles at the Japan Open.
Today, the pair will once again rely on each other’s support when they take on sixth seeds Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue of France for the first time at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.
Yesterday, they rose to the occasion to upset world No. 14 home pair Yuichi Shimogami-Sayaka Hobara 21-19, 11-21, 21-19 in the opening round, but are refusing to get carried away by the result.
The victory marked another major scalp for Jimmy and Su Yin after they stunned world No. 1 Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping of China at the Singapore Open last month.
“I felt a little nervous in the third game, but I also felt we had nothing to lose,” said the 23-year-old Su Yin in a post-match interview with BWF. “So I just kept playing and kept telling Jimmy, ‘we can do it, we can do it’.”
The Malaysians admitted they struggled and made too many mistakes before fighting back to win 21-19, 11-21, 21-19.
Said Jimmy: “For the first 11 points, we couldn’t really get used to the playing conditions.”It was also my first time playing against them, so I couldn’t immediately find the attacking opportunities to win points.
“But after that, we slowly came back point by point and eventually found our feel for the match,” added Jimmy, who is determined to reach the last eight.
Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie also faced an even tougher task against China’s second seeds Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin. The odds are stacked against the husband-and-wife pair, who have lost 10 of their 11 meetings against the world No. 2 Chinese combination.
Soon Huat-Shevon’s only win over Zhenbang-Yaxin came in the quarter-finals of the 2024 China Open. Since then, however, Soon Huat-Shevon have lost their next four meetings against Zhenbang-Yaxin, including in the second round of the All-England in March.
Meanwhile, young pair Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing, who are making their debut in this tournament, will take on Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan.
Aaron-Khai Xing are on cloud nine after fighting back to stun China’s world No. 8 Chen Boyang-Liu Yi 11-21, 26-24, 21-15 in the first round on Tuesday.
FIRST ROUND RESULTS
Malaysians only
Men’s doubles: Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) Nur Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong 21-17, 21-14; Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing bt Chen Boyang-Liu Yi (Chn) 11-21, 26-24, 21-15.
Women’s singles: Kim Ga Eun (Kor) bt K. Letshanaa 21-16, 21-12.
Mixed doubles: Jimmy Wong-Cheng Su Yin bt Yuichi Shimogami-Sayaka Hobara (Jpn) 21-19, 11-21, 21-19; Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie bt Chen Zhi Yi-Francesca Corbett (Us) 21-13, 22-20.
