Rio de Janeiro: Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong highlighted their potential to become a medal contributor to Malaysia in the 2016 Olympics when they stunned World No. 4 Fu Haifeng/Zhang Nan of China to top Group B.
Despite already qualified for the quarter-finals, Goh/Tan came back from dropping the first set to best Fu Haifeng/Zhang Nan 16-21, 21-15, 21-18 in a 3-set thriller that lasted 62 minutes. With the victory, Goh/Tan have maintained a perfect record in their first three games so far.
In men’s doubles Group D, No. 2 seeds Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan were eliminated from the Olympics after they suffered their second defeat as they lost to China’s Chai Biao and Hong Wei 21-15, 21-17.
A similar fate experienced by World No. 1 men’s pair Lee Yong Dae/Yoo Yeon Seong as they lost to Russian pair of Vladimir Ivanov/Ivan Sozonov in the Group A competition. The Russians won the first game 21-17 but lost a closely contested second set to Lee/Yoo 21-19. In the decider, Ivanov/Sozonov played aggressively, making the Koreans work for everything before they were able to claim the decider 21-16.
