Mulheim: The German Open, offering a total prize money of $210,000 (approximately 1 million Malaysian Ringgit), continues on Wednesday at the Westenergie Sporthalle.
Malaysia’s world no. 62 men’s singles player, Cheam June Wei, was defeated by French player Lucas Claerbout with scores of 19-21, 14-21, exiting the competition in the first round.
With Lee Zii Jia and Ng Tze Yong withdrawing from the tournament, and Leong Jun Hao not participating, Cheam became the sole men’s singles representative from Malaysia.
Malaysian players in action on Wednesday also included two mixed doubles pairs. The fourth-seeded pair Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jemie Lai easily defeated the Indian pair Ashith Surya/Pramuthesh with scores of 21-12, 21-11. Goh/Lai will take on Terry Hee Yong Kai/Jessica Tan Wei Han of Singapore next.
As for another Malaysian mixed doubles pair – Tan Kian Meng/Lai Pei Jing, they needed 65 minutes to edge past the English pair Gregory Mairs/Jenny Mairs. Tan/Lai will meet no. 8 seeds Rinov Rivaldy/Pitha Haningtyas Mentari of Indonesia in the second round.
As the Malaysian national men’s doubles were collectively absent from the tournament, the independent men’s doubles pair, Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi, who are aiming for Olympic qualification, are seeded top. They faced little challenge in the first round, defeating the French pair Eloi Adam Leo Rossi in just 33 minutes with scores of 21-13, 21-14.
Ong/Teo will face the Danish pair Daniel Lundgaard/Mads Vestergaard in the next round, who advanced with a 2-1 victory over the Chinese Taipei pair Chen Cheng Kuan/Chen Sheng Fa. In the same top half section, the fifth-seeded Taiwanese pair Yang Po Han/Lu Ching Yao also progressed to the next round and will face the Scottish pair Christopher Grimley/Matthew Grimley.
In women’s doubles, Malaysia is represented by the pair Vivian Hoo/Lim Chiew Sien. They comfortably won their first-round match against Austria’s Serena Au Yeong/Katharina Hochmeir with scores of 21-9, 21-13. In the next round, they will challenge the fifth-seeded Bulgarian sisters Gabriela Stoeva/Stefani Stoeva.
