Taipei: Malaysia’s women’s singles No. 7 seeds Soniia Cheah reached Chinese Taipei Open quarter-finals on Thursday when she defeated Denmark’s Julie Dawall Jakobsen 21-10, 21-10 in 31 minutes.
Cheah is set to take on No. 4 Pai Yu Po of Taiwan on Friday.
Despite a hard-fought first round battle, the home favorite and World No. 1 women’s player Tai Tzu Ying able to ease past compatriot Chiang Ying Li 21-11, 21-8 in the second round. Tai will be meeting her teammate Sung Shuo Yun in the quarter-finals.
In men’s singles, Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia continued to thrive at Chinese Taipei Open as he outlasted Indonesian Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo 21-17, 21-8 in 34 minutes. Lee is set to face Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram next.
The 30-year-old Ajay Jayaram, on the other hand, overcame Denmark’s Kim Bruun in straight games, dishing out a clinical effort to win 21-10, 22-20 over Bruun in a 37-minute.
Malaysia’s independent player Chong Wei Feng dug himself out from 8-16 down in the decider, coming from behind to beat Taiwan’s Lin Yu Hsien 10-21, 26-24, 23-21 in 78 minutes. Chong will fight Riichi Takeshita of Japan in the last eight.
Meanwhile, men’s singles No. 1 seed Chou Tien Chen who won the Korea Open last week, brushed aside Israel’s Misha Zilberman, 21-9, 21-8 on Thursday, as the Taiwanese looking to win his third consecutive Chinese Taipei Open title.
Chou will meet Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu for a semi-final berth.
The men’s doubles No. 6 seeds Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia also made the quarter-finals with a 21-14, 21-16 win against Chang Ko-chi/Lu Chia Pin. Chia/Soh are expecting a tough matchup against Taiwan’s No. 1 seeds Chen Hung Ling/Wang Chi-lin in the next round.
