PETALING JAYA: Independent men's singles shuttler Cheam June Wei got his Korean Masters campaign off to a winning start after upsetting second seed Jason Teh of Singapore in the opening round on Wednesday (Aug 5).
Playing at the Asan Yi Sun-sin Gymnasium, June Wei needed just 39 minutes to beat the world No. 29, 21-13, 21-19.
The win made up for his disappointment after he suffered a qualifying-round exit at last week's Taiwan Open, just 48 hours after winning the Lin Dan Cup.
"It's a huge win for me today. I'll give my best and fight for every point in every match.
I was really tired at the Taiwan Open because I played the Lin Dan Cup final on Sunday and then rushed to Taipei. My body wasn't in the best condition last week," said June Wei.
June Wei, however, will face a much tougher test in the second round against China's Dong Tianyao.
It was disappointment, though, for fellow Malaysian Lim Ming Hong, who went down 16-21, 21-16, 8-21 to England's Harry Huang.
Taiwan Open runners-up Aaron Chia-Aaron Tai also maintained their fine form by beating India's Bhargav Ram Arigela-Viswa Tej Gobburu 21-17, 21-15.
They will next face former Malaysian international Goh V Shem and his South Korean partner Choi Sol-gyu, who cruised past India's Achutaditya Rao-Pochana Arjun 21-3, 21-10.
In the women's doubles, Low Zi Yu-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan suffered a surprise defeat after losing 19-21, 21-18, 17-21 to South Korea's Moon In-seo-Park Seul.
Noraqilah, however, bounced back in the mixed doubles by advancing to the second round with Loo Bing Kun.
The pair upset seventh seeds Dhruv Rawat-Maneesha K of India 18-21, 21-14, 21-17 and will next take on Australia's Andika Ramadiansyah-Nozomi Shimizu.
Meanwhile, Chen Tang Jie-Clarissa San defeated compatriots Low Han Chen-Chan Wen Tse 21-19, 21-18 in an all-Malaysian first-round clash.
They will face fourth seeds Wu Hsuan-yi-Yang Chu-yun of Taiwan for a place in the quarter-finals.
Joining them in the second round were Jimmy Wong-Cheng Su Yin, who came from a game down to beat Japan's Kenta Matsukawa-Sumire Nakade 14-21, 21-15, 21-10.
Jimmy-Su Yin will next face South Korea's Kim Joon-young-Lee Yu-lim.
