Ho Chi Minh City: Malaysian men’s singles player Chong Wei Feng battled back from a set down to complete a 19-21, 21-16, 21-18 victory over his South Korean opponent Heo Kwang Hee, reaching the third round of the Vietnam Open on Wednesday. The world No. 39 Malaysian will play veteran from Vietnam Nguyen Tien Minh in the third round.
However, former world junior champion Zulfadli Zulkiffli made a second round exit from Vietnam Open when he was knocked out of the tournament by unseeded Ginting Anthony of Indonesia, losing 16-21, 12-21. The Malaysian team picked up another disappointment in men’s singles department on Wednesday after Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif lost in the second round to a qualifier, Shreyansh Jaiswal of India, who played the match of his life to beat Arif with 21-16, 19-21, 21-15 in 55 minutes.
The No. 1 seed Tommy Sugiarto needed only 30 minutes to capture his men’s singles second-round triumph over Thammasin Sitthikom of Thailand 21-9, 21-10.
Koo Kien Keat/ Tan Boon Heong looked sensational in the 1st round of men’s doubles where they put together an impressive run to dispatch Alwin Francis/Arun Vishnu of India, winning 21-17, 21-14. Unfortunately, No. 6 seeds Hoon Thien How/Lim Khim Wah came out with a horrible performance, bowing out to Koreans Chung Eui Seok/Kim Duk Young 15-21, 16-21.
After posted a quarter-final finish at World Championships, Amelia Alicia Anscelly/Soong Fie Cho continued their impressive form in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday to defeat Panjarat Pransopon/Sarita Suwannakitborihan of Thailand 21-12, 21-19, and set up a date with Chen Hsiao Huan/Huang Mei Ching in the second round of women’s doubles on Thursday.
Mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying was made to work hard before the Malaysian pair edged out Indonesian Irfan Fadhilah/Weni Anggraini 21-17, 10-21, 21-13 in 45 minutes. Chan/Goh will be out to exact revenge on Praveen Jordan/Debby Susanto of Indonesia in the second round of Vietnam Open on Thursday. Chan/Goh fell at the SEA Games mixed doubles final in June 2015 as Jordan and Susanto came out on top in the mixed doubles final to eventually crushed the Malaysian pair 18-21, 21-13, 25-23 to win the SEA Games mixed doubles gold.
