KUALA LUMPUR – The national top men’s doubles pair, Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, cruised through the first round of the individual event at the Hangzhou Asian Games after defeating Lu Ching-Yao and Yang Po-Han from Chinese Taipei.
In the exhilarating match, which was decided in a rubber game, the Malaysians took 88 minutes to defeat their opponents with a score of 21-23, 21-12, 23-21.
Their next challenge will be a tough one as they face Thailand’s world number 29 ranked pair, Supak Jomkoh and Kittinupong Kedren, who also qualified for the second round after defeating Bhutan’s Anish Gurung and Jimba Sangay Lhendup with a score of 21-4, 21-4.
Meanwhile, in the men’s singles, shuttler Lee Zii Jia faced a similar fate as he fought hard to defeat Hong Kong’s world number 18 player, Angus Ng Ka Long.
Zii Jia won the game 15-21, 21-15, 21-16 in a match that lasted for 63 minutes.
The world number 16 player is expected to face Timor Leste’s Maurinho Gusmao de Jesus in the second round.
At the same time, independent shuttler Goh Jin Wei won her first-round match in the women’s singles category, defeating Pakistan’s Ghazala Siddique with a score of 21-10, 21-4.
In the mixed doubles, Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei also advanced to the second round after defeating Singapore’s Andy Kwek-Crystal Wong with a score of 21-17, 21-13.
The world number nine Malaysians will face India’s K. Sai Praneeth and Tanisha Crasto at Binjiang Gymnasium tomorrow.
Earlier, the experienced men’s doubles pair Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi fell short against Chinese Taipei’s world number 11 pair, Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin.
The doubles pair, who reached the quarterfinals in the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, lost two consecutive games with scores of 16-21, 19-21 in a match that lasted for 41 minutes. – October 2, 2023