THE national men’s doubles pair of Choong Hon Jian and Muhammad Haikal Nazri have progressed to the second round of the Korea Open.
They secured their place with a commanding 21-19, 21-12 victory over Thailand’s Peeratchai Sukphun and Pakkapon Teeraratsakul at the Suwon Gymnasium today.
The Malaysian duo needed only 36 minutes to complete their dominant first-round performance.
Their next opponents will be either the fourth-seeded Japanese pair Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi or the Indonesian duo Muhammad Rian Ardianto and Yeremia Erich Yoche Yacob Rambitan.
The success of Hon Jian and Muhammad Haikal contrasted with the fortunes of other Malaysian pairs in the tournament.
Low Hang Yee and Ng Eng Cheong were forced to retire from their match against Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa and Kyohei Yamashita when the score was tied at 2-2.
Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub and Tan Wee Kiong exited the competition after an 18-21, 12-21 defeat to Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri in the round of 32.
Lau Yi Sheng and Lim Tze Jian also fell short in the men’s doubles qualifiers with a 7-21, 17-21 loss to South Korea’s Song Hyun Cho and Jin Sung Ik.
In the women’s doubles, the Malaysian pair Go Pei Kee and Teoh Mei Xing were beaten 21-13, 21-11 by Taiwan’s Hsu Yin Hui and Lin Jhih Yun.
The mixed doubles qualifiers saw Loo Bing Kun and Go Pei Kee put up a fight before losing 19-21, 18-21 to Taiwan’s Lin Bing Wei and Lin Jhih Yun. – Bernama