Poor start for Malaysian shuttlers in int'l tournament
The national badminton squad kicked off their campaign with mixed fortunes when only two out of five pairs advanced to the next round of the Syed Modi International Badminton Championships at the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium in Lucknow, India today.
Malaysia's top men's doubles pair, Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong advanced to the second round after edging Hirokatsu Hashimoto/Noriyasu Hirata of Japan, winning 21-14, 21-12 in the opening tie.
Goh/Tan however, face a tough task against former world champion, Ko Sung Hyun/Shin Baek Cheol in the next round after the South Korean pair defeated the host pair, Manu Attri/B Sumeeth Reddy, winning 21-18, 21-16 in another first round match.
The only Malaysian representative in the mixed doubles event, Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying also made a good start after disposing of Bhaskar Chakraborty/Rachita Sahdev of India, winning 21-18,21-15 in the opening tie.
Meanwhile, former 2010 World Championships runner-up Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong was knocked out from the tournament after losing 9-21, 21-17 and 16-21 to the third seed, Mads Conrad-Petersen/Mads Pieler Kolding of Denmark.
Malaysia's campaign in the women's doubles event ended after two pairs - Vivian Hoo Kah Mun/Woon Khe Wei and Amelia Alicia Anscelly/Soong Fie Cho - went down to their respective opponents in the opening match.
Hoo/Woon who are seeded fourth, suffered a shocking 18-21, 21-16 and 13-21 defeat to Thailand's unheralded pair, Puttita Supajirakul/Sapsiree Taerattanachai in the opening tie while Amelia/Soong who are the 2015 Singapore SEA Games gold medallists lost 13-21, 25-23, 18-21 to Du Yue/Li Yinhui of China.
- Bernama
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