Taipei: Malaysian independent men’s doubles pair Hoon Thien How/Lim Khim Wah lived up to their billing on Friday, beating Wannawat Ampunsuwan/Tinn Isriyanate of Thailand in straight sets 21-18, 21-14 to advance to the semi-finals of the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix in 37 minutes.
Hoon/Lim who are currently playing for the Sports Affairs Academy, will play Chan Tsz Kit/Law Cheuk Him of Hong Kong in the semi-finals. Chan/Law beat local shuttlers Lee Chia-Han/Liang Jui Wei 21-19, 21-11 in the quarter-finals.
Young mixed doubles pair Tan Kian Meng/Peck Yen Wei who were runners-up at Vietnam International Series 2015 two weeks ago, marched on to the semi-finals after knocking out Lee Yang/Kuo Yu Wen of Taiwan 21-15, 21-15. Tan/Peck will take on No. 1 seeds Ronald Alexander/Melati Daeva Oktaviani of Indonesia on Saturday.
Two other Malaysian pairs namely Tan Wee Gieen/Teo Ee Yi and Tan Chee Tean/Jemie Lai Shevon had bowed out of the Chinese Taipei GP in the men’s doubles and mixed doubles quarter-finals respectively.
Simon Santoso and Sony Dwi Kuncoro – the two senior men’s singles player from Indonesia, also advanced to the semi-finals of the Chinese Taipei GP, and will face off against each other for a final berth.
Santoso defeated player from host country Lin Yu-Hsien 21-12, 21-19 on Friday, while Sony Dwi Kuncoro dispatched South Korean Heo Kwang Hee 22-20, 21-19 to book a place for the semi-finals.
Other men’s singles semi-final will be played between No. 7 seed Ihsan Maulana Mustofa of Indonesia and No. 5 seed Wang Tzu Wei of Taiwan.
Total prize money for the 2015 Chinese Taipei GP is USD200,000.
