Almore: Goh Soon Huat, Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong remain on course in their bid to lift the Dutch Open title but not without getting a tough fight from their opponents in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Goh Soon Huat started the first set on fire, storming to a 21-12 victory against No. 16 seed Joachim Persson of Denmark. But, the Dane kept up with Goh throughout the second set, as both players took the game to 20-20 before Persson held on to force a decider by winning the second set 22-20. Both shuttlers went toe-to-toe in the third set and were putting together some amazing smashes. When Persson was leading at 20-18, it looked like the match will go in the favor of the Dane but Goh turned on his A game and put Persson to sword with some incredible plays, winning the next 5 points to eventually claim the hard fought third set with 22-20.
However, a stern test awaits Goh in the semi-finals, as the Malaysian faces No. 3 seed Ajay Jayaram of India on Saturday.
Ajay Jayaram defeated Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin of Malaysia 21-19, 18-21, 21-14 in 66 minutes on Friday, while another Malaysia shuttler Soo Teck Zhi got destroyed by No. 15 seed Emil Holst of Denmark, losing 5-21, 12-21 in 30 minutes.
In men’s doubles, several service mistakes have cost Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong their first set against Bodin Issara/Nipitphon Puangpuapech of Thailand, losing 18-21. Despite continuing service problems, Koo/Tan possessed better court control and adapted much aggressive game style to pull themselves through the second set with a 21-15 victory. Koo/Tan remain very active, capturing the third set with a dominant 21-14 victory against their Thai opponents.
Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong will face Lee Jhe-Huei/Lee Yang of Taiwan next. The Taiwanese pair pulled off an upset to dispatch No. 4 seeds Michael Fuchs/Johannes Schoettler of Germany 21-17, 21-13 in the quarter-finals.
Chloe Magee who came out on top in a 79 minutes marathon three-setters yesterday against P. C. Thulasi of India yesterday, got involved in another longest match of the day on Friday, but this time, the lucky star was on her opposite side. Magee fell to Line Kjaersfeldt of Denmark in a hard-fought three-set match, losing 22-20, 17-21, 20-22 in 68 minutes.
Line Kjaersfeldt will clash with No. 3 seed Karin Schnaase from Germany in the women’s singles semi-finals.
