Basel: Malaysia’s World No. 85 men’s pair, Low Hang Yee/Ng Eng Cheong pulled off an upset victory in the second round of the Swiss Open on Thursday.
Low/Ng beat World No. 12 Marcus Ellis/Chris Langridge of England 10-21, 21-15, 21-15 in 72 minutes to set up a quarter-final meeting with World No. 15 Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark.
It’s worth noting that Low had recently avoided being dropped from the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), and he was determined to prove his worth with his partner, Ng Eng Cheong, at the Swiss Open and All England.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s World No. 11 Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong experienced an opposite fortune as they lost to World No. 19 Mark Lamsfuss/Marvin Seidel of Germany 19-21, 19-21 in 40 minutes.
Two other Malaysian men’s pairs also entered the last eight. World No. 9 Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik received a walkover from their opponents and will take on Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin of Indonesia next while World No. 13 Teo Ee Yi/Ong Yew Sin also advanced to meet No. 2 seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty of India on Friday.
In men’s singles, World No. 2 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark was barely troubled by World No. 34 Khosit Phetpradab of Thailand, outlasting the Thai opponent 21-13, 21-7 to take on World No. 19 Shesar Hiren Rhustavito of Indonesia in the final eight.
Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia also advanced to the quarter-finals by overcoming Victor Svendsen of Denmark 21-15, 21-11 to next play India’s Sai B Praneeth.