Bangkok: 16-year-old Goh Jin Wei of Malaysia caused a huge upset on Thursday by toppling women’s singles No. 2 seed Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand 21-16, 16-21, 21-17 in the second round of Thailand Open.
Goh held off a late surge from Buranaprasertsuk in the decider when the Thai player came from 15-16 to level the score at 16-16. Goh then played with steadier pace, soaring to 20-16 before wrapping up the match in 55 minutes. Goh next faces compatriot Ho Yen Mei, who stunned No. 5 seed Yui Hashimoto of Japan 21-19, 14-21, 21-16.
Other women’s singles players to reach the quarter-finals including No. 6 seed Tee Jing Yi of Malaysia, Busanan Ongbamrungphan and Nitchaon Jindapol of Thailand.
Malaysia’s men’s singles veteran Daren Liew also surprised the home crowd when he battled past local favorite the No. 4 seed Boonsak Ponsana 22-24, 21-12, 21-17 in 71 minutes. Liew will be meeting Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong on Friday. Unfortunately, another Malaysian veteran Chong Wei Feng couldn’t add more good news to the Malaysian camp after he succumbed to Taiwanese player No. 3 seed Hsu Jen Hao 21-15, 21-10.
Two former Malaysian national men’s doubles pairs Lim Khim Wah/Ong Jian Guo and No. 6 seeds Hoon Thien How/Teo Kok Siang were able to defeat their respective opponents to move on to the next round.
In mixed doubles, No. 3 seeds Tan Kian Meng/Lai Pei Jing needed 49 minutes to defeat a resilient Indonesia pair of Riky Widianto/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja with a 21-19, 21-18. Next up, Tan/Goh will take on Liao Min Chun/ Chen Hsiao Huan of Taiwan for a place in the semi-finals.
