Kuching: The 2017 Malaysia Open in Kuching, Malaysia, has been an action-packed affair since day 1, and Thursday was no different.
With Lee Chong Wei, Lin Dan and Chen Long all in action, the Malaysian fans were extremely excited and filled about 85 per cent of the stadium.
Men’s singles No. 1 seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia continued to his hot form to beat Hu Yun of Hong Kong 21-8, 21-6 in 27 minutes on Thursday. Lee faces 21 year-old Jeon Hyeok-Jin of South Korea in the quarter-finals who defeated Frenchman Brice Leverdez 21-13, 21-10.
Speaking to reporters after the match, Lee insisted he will not underestimate Jeon in the quarter-finals.
“I will not underestimate the South Korean player in the quarter-final, as that will be our first career meeting,” said Lee.
Two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan who tried to break his Malaysia Open jinx, also eased past Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of Thailand 21-8, 21-13 to take on Jonatan Christie of Indonesia next, while No. 3 seed Chen Long was made to work before seeing off compatriot Huang Yuxiang 16-21, 21-18, 21-10 to meet Vincent Wong Wing Ki of Hong Kong in the final 8.
The day’s biggest stunner came in the form of an upset courtesy of unseeded Ajay Jayaram of India—who battled back from a set down to defeat No. 4 seed Viktor Axelsen 9-21, 21-14, 21-19 to play No. 5 seed Son Wan Ho of Korea on Friday.
Besides Lee, all other Malaysian players failed to make past the ‘the Great Wall of China’ on Thursday.
The 2015 World Junior champion went down to the 2016 World Junior champion Chen Yufei of China, 14-21, 21-12, in the women’s singles.
Young Malaysian women’s doubles pair Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean squandered a 10-2, 17-10 lead in the decider to go down to No. 4 seeds Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan of China, 17-21, 21-18, 23-25 in 80 minutes.
Malaysia’s men’s doubles pairs of Chooi Kah Ming-Low Juan Shen lost to Chai Biao-Hong Wei of China, 6-21, 19-21 and Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi were defeated by another Chinese pair Fu Haifeng-Zheng Siwei, losing 12-21, 11-21 in 22 minutes.
