Malang: Both Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin and Soo Teck Zhi of Malaysia were tested at the Indonesian Masters on Thursday.
With a spot in the quarterfinals at stake, No. 12 seed Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin pushed No. 8 seed R. M. V. Gurusaidutt of India and gave him a worthy fight. Iskandar got out to a huge lead with 12-3 in the third set to eventually push through No. 8 Gurusaidutt, winning 21-14, 17-21, 21-15.
Iskandar will play Wisnu Yuli Prasetyo of Indonesia on Friday. Wisnu Yuli Prasetyo defeated the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games gold medalist Shi Yuqi 22-20, 21-12 to make the quarters.
No. 15 seed Soo Teck Zhi, also had to fight back from a set down before beating No. 7 seed Ihsan Maulana Mustofa 19-21, 21-16, 21-17 in 56 minutes. A stern test now awaits Soo in the quarterfinals, where he will play No. 1 seed Kidambi Srikanth for a spot in the semi-final.
In women’s draw, top seed P.V Sindhu beat Indonesian shuttler Wulan Cahya Utami Sukoputri 21-12, 21-9 in 24 minutes to proceed to the quarter-finals. World No.12 Sindhu will battle China’s He Bingjiao for a place in the semi-finals. Thursday marked the last day for Malaysia’s No. 5 seed Tee Jing Yi at the tournament as she went down to Chen Yufei of China 13-21, 21-12, 14-21.
Men’s doubles pair Low Juan Shen/Tan Kian Meng of Malaysia put up a good fight, but the No. 4 seeds Angga Pratama/Ricky Karanda Suwardi proved too strong for the Malaysians as Low/Tan were dispatched with 21-17, 17-21, 14-21.
It was a disappointing day for women’s doubles No. 3 seeds Amelia Alicia Anscelly/Soong Fie Cho after they were sent packing by local shuttlers Suci Rizky Andini/Maretha Dea Giovani 15-21, 11-21. On the other hand, No. 2 seeds Vivian Hoo/Woon Khe Wei looked relief after surviving a massive scare as they were made to work before beating Della Destiara Haris/Rosyita Eka Putri Sari 19-21, 21-14, 21-16 to make the quarter-finals. Hoo/Woon will clash with strong championship contenders Tang Yuanting and Yu Yang of China next. Lai Pei Jing and Chow Mei Kuan also cruised to the quarter-finals and will play Komala Dewi/Vita Marissa on Friday.