Jakarta: Former Asian Junior runner-up, Mohd Arif Abdul Latif cruised into the main draw of Indonesia Open on Tuesday. Arif defeated Christian Lind Thomsen of Denmark 21-23, 21-11, 21-18 in the first qualifying match, and knocked out Derek Wong of Singapore 21-16, 21-12 in his second qualifying match.
The world No. 73 will face Japan’s Thomas Cup hero Kento Momota in the first round of Indonesia Open tomorrow.
The young and passionate Malaysian shuttler bid farewell to Badminton Association of Malaysia in July last year. Arif had played some superb badminton and have also defeated many top players such as world number two Chen Long on different occasions.
In other men’s singles, former world junior champion Zulfadli Zulkiffli of Malaysia went down to Chen Yuekun of China 7-21, 13-21.
In women’s singles, Yang Li Lian of Malaysia advanced to the main draw by defeating Ana Rovita from Indonesia 21-21-15 in her first qualifying match. She then returned to the court hours later to claim a tough 21-15, 13-21, 21-14 victory against Dinar Dyah Ayustine from Indonesia. She will play Jamie Subandhi from USA in the first round tomorrow.
