Bangkok: Takuto Inoue/Yuki Kaneko of Japan caused an upset as they toppled No. 1 seeds Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong in the opener of Thailand Open on Wednesday.
The Japanese pair earned a place in the men’s doubles second round when they staged a fightback from a set down to beat Koo/Tan 20-22, 21-19, 15-21 in 56 minutes.
Inoue/Kaneko are set to take on another Malaysian pair Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi on Thursday.
Both Malaysian veteran men’s singles players Chong Wei Feng and Daren Liew were through to the second round. Chong Wei Feng defeated Henrikho Kho Wibowo of Indonesia 20-22, 21-18, 21-13 and will play No. 3 seed Hsu Jen Hao of Taiwan next while Daren Liew got off to a good start to overcome Taiwan’s Shih Kuei Chun of Taiwan 21-14, 21-15. Next up for Liew will be Thailand’s veteran Boonsak Ponsana on Thursday.
In women’s single, 16-year-old Goh Jin Wei of Malaysia eased past Hana Ramadhini of Indonesia 21-15, 21-10 to set up second round clash with No. 2 seed Porntip Buranaprasertsuk.
Malaysia’s mixed doubles pair Tan Kian Meng/Lai Pei Jing had an easy opening match to register a 21-9, 21-7 victory over Hiski Rumengan/Rofahadah Supriadi Putri in 22 minutes. Tan/Lai will square off against Riky Widianto/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja of Indonesia next.
Thailand Open is a Grand Prix Gold event that offers total prize money of USD $120,000.
