Jakarta: World No. 2 women’s singles player – Tai Tzu Ying who won the 2016 and 2018 Indonesia Open, faced a tougher-than-expected struggle Thursday when she lost the first game 15-21 against World No. 31 Iris Wang of USA, before winning the next two 21-16, 21-9 to advance to the quarter-finals.
Tai is set to play World No. 33 Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark for a ticket to the semi-finals. Kjaersfeldt, on the other hand, pulled off an upset to down last week’s Indonesia Masters runner-up – Ratchanok Intanon 15-21, 21-16, 22-20 to make the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, two Malaysian mixed doubles pairs Hoo Pang Ron/Toh Ee Wei and Chen Tang Jie/Valaree Siow have confirmed their places in the last eight.
Hoo Pang Ron/Toh Ee Wei advanced after beating compatriots Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Lai Jemie 21-19, 21-19 while Chen Tang Jie/Valeree Siow did not have to break a sweat when their opponents who were also the fifth seeds, Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti of Indonesia withdrew from the tournament.
Hoo/Toh are scheduled to face South Korean pair Seo Seung Jae/Chae Yu Jung while Chen Tang Jie/Valeree Siow will take on the Tokyo Olympic champions Wang Yi Lyu/Huang Dong Ping who saw off Chan Peng Soon/Cheah Yee See 21-11, 21-14 of Malaysia on Thursday.
However, Malaysia’s two women’s doubles pairs – Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan and Vivian Hoo/Lim Chiew Sien and one mixed doubles pair – Soong Joo Ven/Goh Liu Ying were all stranded in the second round after losing to their respective opponents on Thursday.
