TWO Malaysian mixed doubles pairs have successfully advanced to the quarter-finals of the Korea Open badminton tournament.
The national duo of Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie Lai, seeded fifth, secured their last-eight spot with a convincing victory.
They defeated China’s Gao Jia Xuan and Wu Meng Ying in straight games, winning 21-16, 21-13 in just 31 minutes.
Soon Huat and Shevon will next face either Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Maya Taguchi or the world number one Chinese pair of Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin.
The other Malaysian pair, Wong Tien Ci and Lim Chiew Sien, also progressed after a hard-fought second-round match.
They overcame South Korean opponents Lee Jongmin and Chae Yu Jung in a three-game thriller that lasted 52 minutes.
Tien Ci and Chiew Sien recovered from a first-game loss to win 9-21, 21-15, 21-17 in an impressive comeback victory.
Their quarter-final opponents will be either Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Boje or the Indonesian pair of Jafar Hidayatullah and Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu. – Bernama
