KUCHING, April 5 — World number one and defending champion Datuk Lee Chong Wei cruised into the second round of the Celcom Axiata Malaysia Open after beating Rajiv Ouseph from England 21-16, 21-18, here today.
Chong Wei, the top seed in the tournament, will face Hong Kong’s Hu Yun who had defeated Denmark’s Anders Antonsen 21-17, 19-21, 21-10 at the Perpaduan Negeri Sarawak Stadium in Petra Jaya, here.
In the women’s singles, National number one Goh Jin Wei had to go the distance before edging Indonesia’s Yulia Yosephine Susanto 21-15, 20-22, 21-17 in three sets.
In the second round Jin Wei will face China’s Chen Yufei who had defeated India’s Pusarla V Sindhu 18-21, 21-19, 21-17.
But while Chong Wei and Jin Wei marched into the second round, Rio Olympics silver medallist and world number one men’s doubles pair Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong suffered a shocking loss to Hong Kong’s Tang Chun Man/Or Chin Chung in the first round of the men’s doubles competition.
Despite being backed by a hostile home crowd, V Shem-Wee Kiong lost 17-21, 21-23 in straight sets.
The fans however, had some consolation for their day’s outing when Choo Kah Ming/Low Juan Shen moved into the second round after beating Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei/Lee Yang 22-20, 21-16.
There was also hope in the women’s doubles when Chow Mei Kuan/Lee Meng Yean marched on after beating Indonesia’s Dian Fitriani/Nadya Melati 21-18, 21-14.
Mei Kuan/Meng Yean will face fourth seeds Chen Qingben/Jia Yifan from China who beat England’s Lauren Smith/Sarah Walker 21-13, 21-14. — Bernama pic
