KUALA LUMPUR, May 4 — National men’s professional pair Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong pulled off a shocker against fourth-seeds Takuto Inoue-Yuki Kaneko of Japan to head into the semi-final of the New Zealand Open badminton championship yesterday.

Having lost to the world number 13 pair in their last two encounters, V Shem-Wee Kiong were forced to work hard before coming through 21-18, 22-24, 21-12 in the 69-minute match at the Eventfinda Stadium in Auckland.

V Shem-Wee Kiong will take on second-seeds Mohamad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia who beat Taiwanese pair Lee Yang-Wang Chi Lin 18-21, 21-19, 21-14.

Also heading into the semi-finals is professional mixed pair Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying who will meet fourth-seeds Hafiz Faizal-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja of Indonesia.

Peng Soon-Liu Ying easily overcame former national teammates Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jin, 21-16, 21-11, in just 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, four other national representatives under the auspices of the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) failed to head into the semis after losing to their respective opponents.

Third-seeded mixed pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai were beaten by fifth-seeds Praveen Jordan-Melati Daeva Oktavianti of Indonesia, 14-21, 19-21.

In the men’s doubles, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik bowed out to first-seeds Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda from Japan, 21-17, 15-21, 10-21 while Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi lost 7- 21, 18-21 to another Japanese pair, Hiroyuki Endo-Yuta Watanabe.

National men’s singles player Lee Zii Jia also saw his participation in tournament end as he lost to Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long 17-21, 21-11, 19-21. — Bernama