Suncheon: Malaysian shuttlers kicked off the first day of the 2022 Korea Open with flying colors, as Ng Tze Yong, Cheam June Wei (men’s singles), Goh Jin Wei (women’s singles), and Tan Kian Meng/Tan Wee Kiong, Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi (men’s doubles) all advanced to the second round.
World No. 45 Ng Tze Yong who was the only player from the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) to participate in the Korea Open, defeated Kalle Koljonen of Finland 21-13, 21-15 to play Kim Donghun of Korea in the next round.
Malaysia’s independent men’s singles player – World No. 72 Cheam June Wei pulled off an upset to outlast World No. 23 HS Prannoy of India – who finished runner-up at the 2022 Swiss Open two weeks ago, with 21-17, 21-7 to play World No. 156 Weng Hong Yang of China in the second round.
If both Ng and Cheam won their second-round matches respectively, they will face each other in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Indonesia’s No. 1 seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting suffered an early exit at the Korea Open, losing 16-21, 13-21 to unseeded Lucas Claerbout of France on Tuesday.
In women’s singles, Malaysia’s World No. 128 and former two-time World Junior champion – Goh Jin Wei who currently playing as an independent player, fought hard to beat Japan’s World No. 52 Asuka Takahashi 21-19, 16-21, 21-17, and will next meet Lee Se Yeon of South Korea.
The 2021 World Championships men’s doubles bronze medalists – Teo Ee Yi/Ong Yew Sin demonstrated an insane level of defense to beat Bokka Navaneeth/Reddy B. Sumeeth 21-14, 21-12 on Tuesday, booking a second-round meeting with Indonesian pair Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin.
Crazy defense from Teo Ee Yi/Ong Yew Sin:
Another Malaysian men’s pair, Tan Wee Kiong/Tan Kian Meng overcame the Korean pair – Kim Hwi Tae/Yoon Dae Il 21-18, 21-13 and will have a tough task ahead as they were scheduled to meet the No. 4 seeds – Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia on Thursday.
