KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 — Seven Malaysian doubles pairs - four men’s and three women’s - got off to a flying start at the Austrian Open when they managed to overcome their first round challenge at the Raiffeisen Sportpark in Graz, early today.
Men’s doubles pair Beh Chun Meng-Goh Boon Zhe led the list after beating host pair Simon Bailoni-Adi Pratama 21-17, 21-18 to secure a slot in the second round to meet Danish pair Emil Lauritzen-Mads Vestergaard, according to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) website .
The rhythm was continued by Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Muhammad Haikal Nazri who defeated Ghana’s Muhammad Al Ilham-Dejan Ferdinansyah from Indonesia 21-16, 21-18 and will face the third seeds of the tournament, Fabien Delrue-William Villeger, from France.
Then it was Justin Hoh-Mohd Fazriq Mohamad Razif’s turn to create a sensation when they sealed an easy 21-14, 21-6 victory over the hosts’ Luca Froschauer-Michael Schausberger before Chang Yee Jun-Chia Wei Jie won against Czech Republic pair Ondrej Kral-Adam Mendrek 21-15, 21-13.
The two national pairs will be up against Danish pairs in the second round with Justin-Mohd Fazriq set to take on Mads-Pieler Kolding-Frederik Sogaard while Yee Jun-Wei Jie meet Andreas Sondergaard-Jesper Toft.
Meanwhile, in the women’s doubles, twins Cheng Su Hui-Cheng Su Yin had to work hard before beating French pair Falvie Vallet-Emilie Vercelot 13-21, 21-15, 21-12 to set up a meeting with fourth seeded Aline Muller-Jenjira Stadelmann of Switzerland.
The pairs of Low Yeen Yuan-Valeree Siow and Anna Cheong Ching Yik -Yap Cheng Wen easily defeated their respective opponents to book slots to play in the second round, which is scheduled to start late Saturday.
After overcoming Hungarian pair Reka Sarosi-Bianca Schiester 21-12, 21-14 in the first round, a tough challenge awaits Yeen Yuan-Valeree as they are scheduled to meet third seeds Alzbeta Basova-Michaela Fuchsova, from the Czech Republic.
As for Anna-Cheng Wen, who beat Estonia’s Catlyn Kruus-Ramona Uprus 21-10, 21-6, they will also have to face tough resistance when they face the second seeds Serena Au Yeong-Katharina Hochmeir, representing the hosts.
Earlier, three mixed doubles pairs led by Slovenia 2021 International Badminton Championships champion Choong Hon Jian-Toh Ee Wei had also advanced to the second round after beating their respective opponents while men’s singles Justin Hoh became the country’s sole representative in the singles events. — Bernama
