PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Eogene Ewe (pic) hopes to build on the momentum from his fine Macau Open run when he makes his Taiwan Open debut today.
Eogene believes reaching his first semi-final of the year in Macau last month has boosted his confidence. The world No. 80 upset several higher-ranked opponents, including Hong Kong’s world No. 37 Jason Gunawan, compatriot Cheam June Wei (No. 71) and Singapore’s Teh Jia Heng (No. 29).
Eogene is hoping for more of the same when he takes on India’s world No. 74 Saneeth Dayanand in the opening round at the Taipei Arena.
A win would likely set up a meeting with home favourite Chou Tien-chen, who made history by capturing the China Open title last week.
Said Eogene: “I’ve been playing against top-30 and top-50 players throughout the tournament, so it was a big challenge.
“I think I did well and it’s given me a lot of motivation because I feel I’ve improved a lot from that tournament. When I get back, I’ll look at where I fell short. I’ll watch my matches again and identify the areas I need to improve.”
Eogene is also in high spirits after earning a place in Malaysia’s squad for the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya this September.
Compatriot Justin Hoh will also be in action in Taiwan but faces a stern opening round test against fifth seed Moh Zaki Ubaidillah of Indonesia.
Meanwhile, Lee Zii Jia opens his campaign against Taiwan’s Liao Jhuo-fu.
There will be no additional Malaysian men’s singles players in the main draw after Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin and Cheam June Wei were eliminated in the qualifying rounds yesterday.
Aidil lost 16-21, 21-19, 16-21 to South Korea’s Choi Ji-hoon, while June Wei, fresh from winning the Lin Dan Cup title, went down 21-15, 14-21, 19-21 to Taiwan’s Hung Ping-hsien.
QUALIFYING RESULTS
(Malaysians only)
Men’s singles
First round: Choi Ji-hoon (Kor) bt Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin 21-16, 19-21, 21-16; Huang Ping-hsien (Tpe) bt Cheam June Wei 15-21, 21-14, 21-19.
Women’s singles
First round: S. Kisona bt Aakarshi Kashyap (Ind) 21-15, 21-19.
Mixed doubles
First round: Loo Bing Kun-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan bt He Zhi-wei-Sun Liang-ching (Tpe) 21-14, 19-21, 21-16; Lee Yi Bo-Lim Chiew Sien bt Fo Ka Him-Karen Feng (Eng) 21-8, 10-2 (rtd), Low Han Chen-Chan Wen Tse bt Wong Tien Ci-How Yin Xuan 21-17, 21-17.
Second round: Yi Bo-Chiew Sien bt Bing Kun-Noraqilah 19-21, 21-15, 21-17; Han Chen-Wen Tse bt Chou Yu-hsiang-Liao Yuan-chi (Tpe) 21-18, 21-14.
