Bali: In an all-Malaysian mixed doubles Group A match between World No. 9 Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying and World No. 11 Tan Kian Meng/Lai Pei Jing on day one of the BWF World Tour Finals, Chan/Goh were solid at the net and were quick at attacking openings at Tan/Lai’s side to wrap up the match 21-14, 21-13 in 38 minutes.
Goh posted this message on her Instagram after the match:
“#WorldTourFinal2021
Step by step ,follow your path ”
View this post on Instagram
Chan/Goh will face Denmark’s 3/4 seeds Mathias Christiansen/Alexandra Boje on Thursday while Tan/Lai will play No. 1 seeds Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino of Japan for a chance to make the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s World No. 8 men’s singles player – Lee Zii Jia also picked up his first win by beating Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand 21-15, 21-16 in the Group B debut.
“I am happy to have my first win in Bali in three weeks. After three weeks, I got enough rest and am in good shape, I hope to produce a positive result at this tournament,” said Lee.
“I will make preparations to face the next two opponents in the group stage. They will definitely be tough matches and I have to stay focused,” added Lee.
The 2021 All -England champions will face French player, Toma Junior Popov for the second group match on Thursday before ending the group stage against Kidambi Srikanth from India on Friday.
Only the group champions and runner-up will be qualified for the semi-finals of the season-ending tournament which offered a total cash prize of USD $1.5 million.
