PETALING JAYA: Nur Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong spoiled Aaron Chia-Man Wei Chong’s debut as a pair by knocking them out in the first round of the China Masters yesterday.
The all-Malaysian clash at the Shenzhen Arena went down to the wire before Azriyn-Wee Kiong came from a game down to win 14-21, 21-15, 21-19.
They will face either Japan’s Kakeru Kumagai-Hiroki Nishi or Malaysians Chia Weijie-Teo Ee Yi in the second round.
Earlier, another scratch pair Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Kang Khai Xing also bowed out after losing 11-21, 16-21 to India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty.
In the women’s singles, K. Letshanaa cruised past England’s Karen Feng 21-6, 21-3 in just 16 minutes.
Letshanaa will face a much sterner test in the next round against second seed Wang Zhiyi for a place in the quarter-finals.
