PETALING JAYA: Even the luggage delay could not derail singles shuttler Liew Daren and men’s doubles pair Goh V Shem-Lim Khim Wah from making superb starts at the German Open in Mulheim.
Daren and V Shem-Khim Wah arrived in Germany on Sunday but their baggage only arrived on Monday night.
But it didn’t matter as world No. 38 Daren, in particular, set out to prove a point following a disappointing first-round loss in the Malaysian Open last month.
On Tuesday, Daren clinically dispatched Frenchman Thomas Rouxel 21-12, 21-18 in the first round.
On Wednesday, the 27-year-old stepped it up a notch to send 11th seed Rajiv Ouseph of England packing 21-19, 21-19.
Daren will now meet India’s Arvind Bhat for a place in the quarter-finals. Bhat was also in good shape as he dumped veteran third seed Hu Yun of Hong Kong 21-17, 16-21, 21-11.
Malaysian Open champions V Shem-Khim Wah also cleared their first round despite struggling in patches as they disposed of Hong Kong’s Chan Yun Lung-Lee Chun Hei 22-20, 23-21.
“The late arrival of our luggage affected our training sessions here but there were no such problems once we stepped on court,” said V Shem. “We’re definitely happy with our first round win and we’re looking forward to improving on our performance in the next match.”
The pair, who are seeded seventh, will take on home favourites Michael Fuchs-Johannes Schoettler in the second round.
In other results on Wednesday, women’s doubles pair of Vivian Hoo-Woon Khe Wei also enjoyed a flying start after thrashing Belgium’s Steffi Annys-Severine Corvilain 21-7, 21-10 to set up a second round meeting with Taiwan’s Cheng Chi-ya-Wu Ti-jung.
“It was quite an easy match for us but it’ll be tougher against the Taiwanese … we’ve never faced them before,” said Vivian.
