Seoul: Malaysia’s World No. 9 mixed doubles pair, Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei, has advanced to the semifinals of the Korea Open after defeating their more experienced compatriots, Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Lai in 34 minutes.
Highlights of Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei vs. Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Lai in the 2024 Korea Open quarter-finals:
In the quarterfinal match held at the Mokpo Indoor Stadium on Friday, Chen/Toh defeated the fifth-seeded World No. 13 pair in straight sets, 21-18, 21-11.
This victory narrowed the gap in head-to-head encounters between Chen/Toh and Goh/Lai to 2-3 over their five matches.
“I am happy to have beaten them. If I’m not mistaken, we lost to them twice in a row before this, and I’m glad we managed to secure the win today,” said Chen.
In the semifinals on Saturday, Chen/Toh are scheduled to face the Chinese pair, Cheng Xing/Zhang Chi, who defeated the Taiwanese duo, Ye Hong Wei/Nicole Gonzales Chan, 21-9, 21-19 in the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, Goh Soon Huat mentioned that he and Shevon Lai will now shift their focus to the upcoming tournaments in Hong Kong and China to collect as many points as possible for the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, China, in December.
“We are still in the top eight (BWF World Tour Finals ranking). We will try our best in all tournaments to gain more points to qualify for the World Tour Finals.”
“Next are the tournaments in Hong Kong and China… we will try to enjoy the matches and play more consistently,” said Goh.
In women’s doubles competition, World No. 9 Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan faced tough resistance from the World No. 239 Taiwanese duo, Teng Chun Hsun/Yang Chu Yun, before securing a spot in the Korea Open semifinals on Saturday.
In the quarterfinal match, Tan/Muralitharan were pushed to their limits but managed to overcome their opponents 21-19, 21-15.
After being eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Japan Open last week, Tan/Muralitharan bounced back to show their true form by pulling ahead of their opponents early in the second set.
The point gap continued to widen until mid-match before Teng/Yang closed the gap to 16-14.
However, Tan/Muralitharan maintained their focus to seal a 21-15 win in the second set, booking their place in the semifinals.
In the semifinal, Tan/Muralitharan are set to face the world’s second-ranked pair, Baek Ha Na/Lee So Hee, who defeated China’s Li Yi Jing/Luo Xu Min 21-18, 21-17 in the quarterfinals.
