Malaysians in fine form at Macau Open
PETALING JAYA : Malaysian shuttlers served a surprise at the Macau Open today by booking four slots in the semi-finals, including an all-Malaysian encounter in the men's doubles category.
The five semi-finalists are mixed doubles pairs Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei and Jimmy Wong-Lai Pei Jing, men's doubles pairs Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King and Chong Hon Jian-Haikal Nazri, and men's singles player Justin Hoh.
The 52nd ranked Hon Jian-Haikal created the biggest upset after they overcame India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty 21-14, 13-21, 22-20 in an hour-long battle.
Hon Jian-Haikal's win assures Malaysia of a spot in the final as they will take on compatriots Wan Arif-Roy King in one of the semi-final matches.
Wong-Pei Jing, who are No 126 in the world rankings, have been outstanding en route to the semi-finals.
They created a major upset in their quarter-final match against China's world No 12 pair Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi, winning 21-12, 17-21, 21-18.
Before that, they disposed of world No 17 pair Dhruv Kapila- Tanisha Crasto of India in the last 16, winning 10-21, 21-13, 21-18.
They will take on Indonesia's world No 19 pair Amri Syahnawi-Nita Violina Marwah in the semi-final.
World No 3 mixed doubles pair Tang Jie-Ee Wei were in their element as they defeated Indonesia's Adnan Maulana-Indah Cahya Sari Jamil in straight games.
Their semi-final opponents will be Danish pair Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje, who are ranked much lower than the Malaysians.
Hoh, whose performance in Macau has been the best so far this year, made it to the men's singles semi-finals after defeating higher-ranked players. He beat Kantaphon Wangcharoen of Thailand in the quarter-finals in straight games 21-9, 21-18.
In the first two rounds, he triumphed over seventh-seeded Ayush Shetty and Sathish Kumar Karunakaran, both from India.
He will meet India's world No 8 shuttler Tharun Mannepalli in the semi-final.
In the all-Malaysian men's doubles quarter-final, Wan Arif-Roy King defeated Nur Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong 21-12, 21-16 to enter the last four.
The Macau Open is a BWF World Tour 300 event which offers a total prize money of US$370,000 (RM1.58 million). The singles champions will receive US$27,750 (RM118,792) and the runners-up US$14,060 (RM60,188).
The winners of the doubles events will take home US$29,230 (RM125,128) while the runners-up pocket US$14,060 (RM60,188).
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