Bangkok: Two of the three Malaysian men’s doubles pairs had reached the quarter-finals of Thailand Open on Thursday.
While facing growing pressure from within Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) to split up their partnership, the 2009 World Boys’ Doubles champions and current World No. 94 Chooi Kah Ming and Ow Yao Han put together a stellar performance to upset World No. 25 Wang Yilv and Zhang Wen of China 21-19, 14-21, 21-15 to advance to the quarters of Thailand Open.
Chooi/Ow trailed 3-9 in the decider, before the Malaysians recomposed themselves and stormed back to lead with 16-12. However, the Chinese pair then fought off three straight points to close in on the Malaysians, before Chooi/Ow reeled off 5 more points to beat the No. 8 seeds in 55 minutes. Chooi/Ow will play compatriots Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong on Friday.
The former world No. 1 pair Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong, on the other hand, needed only 24 minutes to ease past Thaptimdong Arkornnit and Boonyakorn Thumpanichwong of Thailand 21-16, 21-16.
Another Malaysian men’s doubles pair Hoon Thien How/Lim Khim Wah failed to convert against No. 5 seeds Wahyu Nayaka Arya Pankaryanira/Ade Yusuf of Indonesia, bowing out 12-21, 14-21 in 28 minutes.
In men’s singles, No. 1 seed Son Wan Ho beat Simon Santoso 11-21, 21-17, 21-12 in 64 minutes. On the contrary, No. 2 seed Hu Yun of Hong Kong looked struggled as he faltered 15-21, 11-21 to the 2015 Indonesia International Challenge champion Sony Dwi Kuncoro.
The women’s doubles No. 2 seeds Vivian Hoo/Woon Khe Wei dominated their second round match against Chan Kaka Tsz Ka/Yuen Sin Ying of Hong Kong, winning 21-17, 21-13. Reigning SEA Games champions and No. 6 seeds Amelia Alicia Anscelly/Soong Fie Cho also brushed aside Komala Dewi/Vita Marissa of Indonesia 21-16, 21-15 to advance to the women’s doubles quarter-finals. Unfortunately, another Malaysian women’s doubles pair Lim Yin Loo/Lee Meng Yean couldn’t survive the challenge from Chang Ye Na/Lee So Hee of South Korea, losing 21-15, 21-10 in 36 minutes.
Malaysia’s mixed doubles pair Tan Aik Quan/Lai Pei Jing put up a good fight against No. 3 seeds Praveen Jordan/Debby Susanto, but was not good enough to topple the Indonesians as they lost in straight-sets 18-21, 19-21.
The top 3 women’s singles shuttlers all made it into the Thailand Open quarter-finals. No. 1 seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand will play Japanese Sayaka Sato on Friday, No. 2 seed Korean Sung Ji Hyun will take on Malaysian Tee Jing Yi next, while China’s Sun Yu will clash with compatriot He Bingjiao for a place in the semi-final.
