PETALING JAYA: After 26 days of playing together, men’s doubles pair Man Wei Chong-Soh Wooi Yik are finally beginning to show signs of progress after reaching the semi-finals of the Korean Masters in Asan.
Expectations were high when the two elite shuttlers were paired together in July, but results had been slow to come in their first three tournaments.
They suffered a first round exit at the Japan Open before bowing out in the second round of the China Open a week later.
Another first round defeat followed at the Taiwan Open last week, raising questions over whether the new combination could deliver.
Wei Chong-Wooi Yik, however, have turned things around at the Korean Masters this week, taking advantage of a field missing many of the world’s top pairs to reach their first semi-finals together.
They needed little trouble to beat India’s Krishna Prasad Garaga-Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy 21-7, 21-8 in the quarter-finals yesterday.
Wei Chong-Wooi Yik will now look to go one step further when they face Japan’s Haruki Kawabe-Kenta Matsukawa for a place in the final today.
The Japanese pair have also been in impressive form in Asan.
Kawabe-Matsukawa knocked out China’s top seeds Hu Keyuan-Lin Xiang Yi in the second round before eliminating sixth-seeded compatriots Shuntaro Mezaki-Yuta Oku in the quarter-finals yesterday.
They will also be familiar opponents for Wei Chong-Wooi Yik, having beaten the Malaysians in the opening round of the Taiwan Open last week.
Tee Kai Wun-Yap Roy King have also enjoyed a breakthrough in Asan by reaching their first semi-finals together.
Kai Wun-Roy King defeated Taiwan Open runners-up and fellow Malaysians Aaron Chia-Aaron Tai 21-12, 21-15 in the quarter-finals yesterday.
The result was a welcome change for Kai Wun-Roy King after suffering first round exits in their previous two tournaments at the China Open and Taiwan Open.
Like Wei Chong-Wooi Yik, Kai Wun-Roy King will also face a Japanese pair, Shuji Sawada-Daigo Tanaka, for a place in the final today.
Independent men’s singles shuttler Cheam June Wei will also be in action in the semi-finals today.
June Wei will head into his clash against China’s Zhu Xuanchen with confidence after battling past Taiwan’s seventh seed Su Li-yang 23-21, 10-21, 21-18 yesterday.
The independent shuttler had earlier stunned Singapore’s world No. 29 Jason Teh in the opening round before overcoming China’s world No. 49 Dong Tianyao in the second round.
“I never expected to make it this far, but I’m just enjoying every fighting moment on court,” said June Wei.
“We had a lot of long and tough rallies today (yesterday) and I’m happy that I managed to win the match. I just focused on one point at a time, one by one.”
Malaysians only
Men’s singles: Cheam June Wei bt Su Li-yang (Tpe) 23-21, 10-21, 21-18.
Men’s doubles: Man Wei Chong-Soh Wooi Yik bt Krishna Prasad Garaga-Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy (Ind) 21-7, 21-8; Tee Kai Wun-Yap Roy King bt Aaron Chia-Aaron Tai 21-12, 21-15.
Mixed doubles: Kim Jae-hyeon-Jang Ha-jeong (Kor) bt Jimmy Wong-Cheng Su Yin 21-17, 21-18; Gao Jiaxuan-Wu Mengying (Chn) bt Loo Bing Kun-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan 21-14, 21-15; Haruki Kawabe-Kokona Ishikawa (Jpn) bt Chen Tang Jie-Clarissa San 22-20, 21-17.
