Azriyn-Wee Kiong stage late fightback against Indonesian duo
World No. 23 Azriyn-Wee Kiong were stretched to the limit by Indonesia's world No. 136 Putra Erwiansyah-Daniel Marvino before securing a 21-14, 15-21, 21-17 win in a 53-minute second-round match.
Wee Kiong said that they cannot afford to do the same in their maiden clash against Arif–Roy King, who are on a high after receiving a late BWF invite on Tuesday to compete at the World Championships.
World No. 24 Arif-Roy King checked into the last eight with a 21-18, 21-18 win over India's No. 35 Pruthvi Roy-Sai Prateek.
"Today, we actually had a difficult time against the Indonesian pair and made some unforced errors. Hopefully, this won't happen tomorrow," said the 35-year-old Wee Kiong.
"We have to focus on regaining our rhythm."
The veteran pair had been on a roll prior to the Macau Open, as they made the quarter-finals of the Japan Open - their best result in a Super 750 event - a fortnight ago, before losing in three games to world No. 7 compatriots Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun. They then exited the second round of the China Open last week.
Meanwhile, world No. 52 Choong Hon Jian-Haikal Nazri put their injury troubles aside by reaching their first quarter-final after beating Japan's world No. 90 Tori Aizawa-Daisuke Sano 21-14, 21-19.
Hon Jian-Haikal will play either India's world No. 9 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty or Japan's world 89 Kakeru Kumagai-Hiroki Nishi in the last eight.
Goh V Shem - a former world No. 1 and 2016 Olympic silver medallist with Wee Kiong - reached the last eight with his South Korean partner Cho Sol Gyu.
Playing in their fifth tournament together, world No. 148 V Shem–Sol Gyu defeated Indonesia's world No. 50 Rahmat Hidayat-Yeremia Rambitan 21-18, 21-18 to set up a last-eight showdown against world No. 8 Sabar Karyaman-Moh Reza Isfahani of Indonesia on Friday.
However, independent world No. 69 Chia Weijie-Lwi Sheng Hao's run came to an end after losing to Hong Kong's world No. 106 Hung Kuey Chun-Lui Chun Wai 15-21, 21-13, 21-18 in the second round.
In the women's doubles, Malaysia's campaign ended in the second round after world No. 18 Go Pei Kee-Teoh Mei Xing lost 21-15, 22-24, 21-15 to Taiwan's world No. 135 Lin Chih Chun-Lin Wan Ching, while 224th-ranked Cheng Su Hui-Tan Zhing Yi lost 21-17, 21-17 to 12th-ranked Taiwan pair Hsieh Pei Shan-Hung En Tzu.
Women's singles world No. 47 Goh Jin Wei stretched China's world No. 5 Chen Yu Fei before suffering a 14-21, 21-9, 21-18 defeat in the second round.
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