KUALA LUMPUR: National men’s singles player Leong Jun Hao and two national doubles pairs, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani and the mixed doubles team of Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei, advanced to the second round of the 2024 Singapore Open today.
In the first-round match played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin needed only 46 minutes to overcome Taiwan’s Lu Ching Yao-Yang Po Han with scores of 21-18 and 21-13.
It was their third win against the world-ranked 25 pair, following previous triumphs at the 2017 Malaysia Masters and the 2019 Macau Open.
Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin will next face China’s Liu Yu Chen-Ou Xuan Yi, the eighth seed of the tournament, on Thursday. Based on previous encounters, they have a 50-50 chance, having defeated Xuan Yi-Yu Chen twice at the 2022 German Open and the 2022 Malaysia Open.
However, the world-ranked 14 pair have also been defeated twice by the Chinese pair at the 2023 Japan Open and the 2024 India Open.
