KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 — National men’s doubles pair Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun have ensured that Malaysia has at least one representative in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Malaysia Masters thanks to their first round victory today.
The world number 20 pair beat Taiwan’s Chiang Chien Wei-Wu Hsuan Yi 22-20, 21-12 at Axiata Arena to set up a second round match this Thursday against fellow Malaysians Choong Hon Jian-Muhammad Haikal Nazri, who beat another Malaysian pair Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong 22-2, 21-19.
“We can’t think too much about playing against our teammates, what we can do is to prepare ourselves for our performance. But of course we’re happy there’s a Malaysian pair who’re guaranteed to be in the quarterfinals,” Kai Wun said after their win.
He told reporters that they managed to come from behind and win even though they were seven points behind in the first game after changing their game tactics, as they made unforced errors when playing aggressively.
Meanwhile, Hon Jian said he and his partner, Muhammad Haikal were undeterred by Wee Kiong’s achievement as an Olympic silver medallist during their match today and promised to play their best against Wei Chong-Kai Wun, especially since both pairs were acutely aware of each other’s capabilities and techniques thanks to their training together.
Two other Malaysian men’s doubles pairs also advanced to the second round, Wan Muhammad Arif Shaharuddin Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King, who beat China’s Xie Hao Nan-Zeng Wei Han 21-16, 21-12, and Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzudin Rumsani beat their teammates Hang Yee-Eng Cheong 21-11, 21-19.
Meanwhile, national women’s doubles pair Go Pei Kee-Low Yeen Yuan beat Ukrainians Polina Buhrova-Yevheniia Kantemyr 21-15, 21-15 to book their place in the second round, where they eighth seeded Setyana Mapasa-Angela Yu of New Zealand. — Bernama
