Kuala Lumpur: Either the World No. 89 mixed pair Man Wei Chong/Pearly Tan Koong of Malaysia was onto something unthinkable, or the World No. 5 mixed pair Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti from Indonesia was playing really bad badminton, as the young Malaysian pair outlasted the Indonesian pair in a one-sided Malaysia Masters first round match with 21-18, 21-13 in 27 minutes on Wednesday.
“I never thought I could win this match. It’s probably due to my teammates and I were always supporting each other,” said Man Wei Chong at the Axiata Arena on Wednesday.
According to the Kedah-born player, he had seen how Jordan/Oktavianti played but didn’t think he could win. They will next take on another Indonesian pair World No. 9 Hafiz Faizal/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja.
In addition to mixed doubles, Tan also teamed up with M. Thinaah in the first round of women’s doubles to beat fellow teammates Anna Cheong/Lim Chiew Sien 21-15, 21-10.
Also in the second round was World No. 6 mixed pair Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying who overcame fellow compatriots Low Hang Yee/Lim Chiew Sien 21-7, 21-11. They will meet World No. 97 Choi Solgyu/Shin Seung Chan of Korea on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jemie Lai saw off China’s He Ji Ting/Du Yue 21-12, 21-19 in the mixed doubles first round to set up second round encounter with Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue of France.
