Taipei: For a long time it seemed we would not able to see the 2003 All England champion Muhammad Hafiz Hashim to compete at the highest level of badminton anymore, proving he still had plenty of fuel in his tank, the 32-year-old Malaysian sprung two surprises on Tuesday at the Chinese Taipei Open qualifying round when he defeated compatriot Jimmy Tay Yu Lun 21-17 , 15-21, 21-7 in 50 minutes, and sparked a strong comeback to closed out a tough victory over Lin Chia Hsuan of Chinese Taipei in the second qualifying match with 18-21, 21-17, 22-20 in 55 minutes. Hafiz is set to square off with Jeon Hyeok-Jin of Korea on Wednesday. Jeon Hyeok-Jin is going to be a tough nut to crack for Hafiz, since he has proved his worth by pulling off an upset triumph over world No. 9 Son Wan Ho at last week’s 2015 Gwangju Summer Universiade men’s singles final.
Malaysia’s independent men’s doubles Hoon Thien How/Lim Khim Wah lost in the third round of Chinese Taipei qualifying as Chooi Kah Ming/Ow Yao Han and Mak Hee Chun/Teo Kok Siang were the only Malaysian men’s doubles pairs to progress to the main draw.
Earlier in the day, Hoon Thien How/Lim Khim Wah, eased past Huang Chu-En/Huang Po Jui of Chinese Taipei 21-15, 21-12. The Malaysian duo then dispatched Chan Tsz Kit/Law Cheuk Him of Hong Kong 21-18, 21-16 in the second round, but lost to Fernando Kurniawan/Yeung Shing Choi of Hong Kong in a grueling third round with 18-21, 21-14, 17-21.
Huang Yaqiong and Ma Jin of China became the only pair from China to qualify for the main draw on Tuesday. The Chinese pair was given a higher level of resistance in the second game against Chang Ya-Han/Wang Pei Rong of Chinese Taipei in their first qualifying match of the day. The Chinese pair was in danger of losing the second set to the Taiwanese pair before roared back to prevail in straight-sets with 21-8, 21-18. Huang Yaqiong and Ma Jin scored two relatively easy qualifying matches in the second and third round to set up a date with Edi Subaktiar/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja in the first round of the main draw on Wednesday.
