KUCHING: Hoo Pang Ron and Lai Pei Jing make their breakthrough after advancing to the second round of the Indonesia Open today.
The independent mixed doubles pair, who joined forces in late April, defeated Indonesia’s world No. 25 combination Marwan Faza and Aisyah Salsabila Putri Pranata 21-17, 21-9 in their opening-round match at Istora Senayan.
The victory marked the pair’s first win together after a difficult start that saw them bow out in the opening round of both the Malaysia Masters and Singapore Open over the past fortnight.
After two early exits to begin their partnership, Pang Ron and Pei Jing looked far more settled against the home pair, controlling the match from the outset before pulling away comfortably in the second game.
The Malaysians now face a sterner challenge against Thailand’s second seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran in the last 16.
The Thai pair overcame Japan’s Yuichi Shimogami and Sayaka Hobara 23-21, 19-21, 21-19 in a thrilling opening-round encounter.
Malaysia had already enjoyed a positive start to the tournament on Tuesday.
Men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin Rumsani progressed to the second round after a straight-games victory over Singapore’s Wesley Koh and Junsuke Kubo.
Also through was national men’s singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao, who broke his first-round jinx at the tournament by defeating Japan’s Kodai Naraoka in two games.
Malaysia’s challenge continues at Istora Senayan later today with several representatives still scheduled to begin their campaigns.
Women’s doubles second seeds Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah will take on Canada’s Crystal Lai and Jeslyn Dent, while Ong Xin Yee and Carmen Ting face Japan’s Kana Osawa and Maya Tanabe.
In mixed doubles, Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Lai Jemie open against Indonesia’s Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja, while Wong Tien Ci and Lim Chiew Sien face China’s Gao Jia Xuan-Wei Xa Yin.
Men’s doubles action includes an all-Malaysian clash between Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Yap Roy King-Junaidi Arif, while Kang Khai Xing-Aaron Tai face India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have a score to settle following their last upset at the Singapore Open against the pair.
National women’s singles shuttler Letshanaa Karupathevan will also be in action against Denmark’s Line Kjærsfeldt.
The tournament is currently underway and is set to conclude on Sunday (June 7).
