KUALA LUMPUR: National men’s doubles duo Goh Sze Fei and Izzuddin Rumsani continued their successful run into the quarterfinals at the Korea Open today.
The pair, who were crowned US Open champions on Sunday, defeated compatriots and sixth seeds Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi 25-23, 21-15 in the second round at Jinnam Stadium.
However, the big test for the 46th-ranked pair in the quarterfinals are top seeds Fajar Alfian and Rian Ardianto of Indonesia, who defeated Taiwanese duo Lu Ching Yao and Yang Po Han 21-19, 21-15.
Following Sze Fei-Izzuddin into the quarterfinals is national men’s singles player Ng Tze Yong, who easily beat Hong Kong’s Angus Ng 21-18, 21-17.
Tze Yong will face fourth seed Loh Kean Yew of Singapore, who advanced with a 21-19, 17-21, 21-6 win over China’s Zhao Junpeng.
Four other national representatives were shown the exit in the second round.
Women’s singles player S Kisona struggled before losing 22-20, 14-21, 14-21 at the hands of tournament top seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, while the doubles team of Pearly Tan and M Thinaah suffered the same fate at the hands of Chinese pair Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan when they went down 17-21, 21-17, 19-21.
Mixed doubles pair Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing lost 9-21, 7-21 to the second seeds from Thailand, Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai.
Another mixed doubles pair, Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie Lai also went down 17-21, 13-21 to Japanese pair Hiroki Midorikawa and Natsu Saito.
Top national men’s doubles duo Aaron Chia an Soh Wooi Yik, who were seeded fourth, lost 21-19, 18-21, 19-21 to Keiichiro Matsui and Yoshinori Takeuchi.
The Japanese pair will meet South Koreans Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae, who earlier beat compatriots Jin Yong and Na Sung-seung 24-26, 21-15, 21-18, in the quarterfinals tomorrow.
Meanwhile women’s singles shuttler K Letshanaa was trounced by world No 4 Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan 21-15, 21-5.
Tzu Ying will next face off against Zhang Yi Man of China, who stopped compatriot Han Yue 21-10, 21-17.
