KUALA LUMPUR: The hopes of youngsters Mak Hee Chun-Tan Wee Kiong for a major breakthrough in the German Open came unstuck in the quarter-finals at Mulheim yesterday.
The back-up men doubles shuttlers, who are touted as the future top men’s pair in the country, were on the verge of scalping their second consecutive big win in the tournament but a lack of experience saw them going down 16-21, 21-11, 19-21 to second seeds Chris Adcock-Robert Blair of England in the quarter-finals.
Just a day ago, the duo had beaten eighth seeds Michael Fuchs-Ingo Kindervater of Germany 21-14, 21-13 to seal a place in the last eight.
With Hee Chun-Wee Kiong’s defeats, the hope rests on the shoulders of former internationals Gan Teik Chai-Tan Bin Shen as the sole representatives to achieve glory in the men’s doubles event.
The duo, who were slated to take on Japanese Kenichi Hayakawa-Kenta Kazuno, are expected to make the semi-finals.
Malaysia’s challenge ended in the men’s singles event with the defeats of seasoned campaigner Wong Choong Hann and youngster Chong Wei Feng in the quarter-finals and third round matches respectively.
Yesterday, Choong Hann got off to a superb start by beating Chen Long of China 21-9 in the first game.
But he ran out of steam after that, losing 19-21, 21-16 to the Chinese youngster.
Wei Feng’s campaign ended earlier when he failed to make the last eight after going down fighting 18-21, 17-21 to top seed Bao Chunlai of China.
Malaysia will have no representatives in the mixed doubles when two pairs — Mohd Razif Abdul Latif-Woon Khe Wei and Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying — crashed out in the second round matches on Thursday.
Earlier report
KUALA LUMPUR: Youngsters Mak Hee Chun-Tan Wee Kiong continued to show that they can be depended on when they emerged as the only shuttlers from the back-up squad to reach the quarter-finals of the German Open at Mulheim.
On Thursday, Hee Chun-Wee Kiong, dubbed as the country’s future men’s doubles pair to watch out for, pulled of an upset 21-14, 21-13 win over eighth seeds Michael Fuchs-Ingo Kindervater of Germany in just 28 minutes.
They will take on second seeds Chris Adcock-Robert Blair of Eng-land for a place in the semi-finals.
The youngsters almost sent formidable Danish veterans Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen packing in the first round of the Malaysian Open last month.
Besides Hee Chun-Wee Kiong, the others who made the quarter-finals are the country’s former Badminton Association of Malaysia players — Gan Teik Chai-Tan Bin Shen and Wong Choong Hann.
Teik Chai-Bin Shen made it to the men’s doubles quarter-finals after a hard-fought 19-21, 21-9, 21-15 win over Kasper Faust Henriksen-Christian John Skovgaard of Denmark.
The seniors have an easier path to make the semi-finals as they will be up against the unheralded Kenichi Hayakawa-Kenta Kazuno of Japan next.
In the men’s singles, Choong Hann is the lone survivor when he reached the quarter-finals with a 21-16, 21-18 win over India’s Anup Sridhar.
It was, however, the end of the road for back-up shuttler Chong Wei Feng when he went down 18-21, 17-21 to top seed Bao Chunlai of China.
Malaysia’s mixed doubles challenge ended when the 2012 London Olympic Games trainees — Mohd Razif Abdul Latif-Woon Khe Wei and Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying — crashed out in the second round.
