NATIONAL table tennis player Javen Choong is on track to smash his way to an unlikely medal in his second outing in the mixed doubles with Karen Lyne.
Malaysia have never won a medal in the mixed doubles before.
Javen had partnered Karen in the 2018 Gold Coast Games but did not get past the last 16.
The pair had already surpassed that after booking their spot in the quarter-finals with an 11-2, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7 win over Canada’s Eugene Wang-Zhang Mo in the second round at the National Exhibition Centre yesterday.
Javen was pleased with the pair’s performance after the win.
“The Canadian pair are very experienced but we studied their game a lot and kept attacking them.
“We also made fewer mistakes and this helped us win the match,” said Javen.
Both will play India’s Sathiyan Gnanasekaran-Manika Batra for a place in the semi-finals.
While Javen is looking for his first medal in the Games, Karen will be out to win her second after capturing silver in the women’s team event.
Meanwhile, two other national pairs failed to make it past the last 16.
Leong Chee Feng-Ho Ying fell to another Indian pair Achanta Sharath Kamal-Akula Sreeja 11-5, 2-11, 6-11, 5-11 while Wong Qi Shen-Tee Ai Xin lost out to Singapore’s Clarence Chew-Zeng Jian 7-11, 6-11, 9-11.
