2 M’sian pairs fail to clear first hurdle at India Open

PETALING JAYA: It is the end of the road for two Malaysian pairs at the India Open badminton tournament after they failed to progress past the first round in New Delhi.

World No 14 men’s doubles pair Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun fell 23-21, 19-21, 16-21 to India’s world No 9 pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty.

In the mixed doubles, world No 18 pair Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin lost 21-18, 21-15 to Japan’s world No 13 pair Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito.

Tomorrow, world No 5 pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik will take on Thailand’s world No 31 pair Peeratchai Sukphun-Pakkapon Teeraratsakul in the men’s doubles.

World No 71 pair Wong Tien Ci-Lim Tze Jian will be looking to pull off an upset against Indonesia’s world No 4 pair Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto in another men’s doubles tie tomorrow.

Another Malaysian men’s doubles pair, world No 27 Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi, will also be hoping for a surprise when they face China’s world No 3 pair Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang tomorrow.

The men’s doubles last-16 ties on Thursday will include an all-Malaysian clash between world No 2 pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani and world No 23 duo Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi.

In women’s doubles play tomorrow, world No 7 pair Pearly Tan-M Thinaah meet world No 142 pair Prerana Alvekar-Mrunmayee Deshpande.

Mixed doubles world No 4 pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai open their campaign tomorrow against Indonesia’s unranked duo of Rinov Rivaldy-Lisa Ayu Kusumawati.

World No 34 Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien will meet the unranked Japanese pair of Yuta Watanabe-Maya Taguchi.

Earlier today, Malaysia’s world No 28 Leong Jun Hao shocked China’s world No 6 Li Shi Feng 18-21, 21-17, 21-17 in the first round of the men’s singles.

The country’s sole entry in the men’s singles, Jun Hao has a date with China’s world No 21 Weng Hong Yang in the round-of-16 on Thursday.