WHILE many local shuttlers stumbled on the opening day of Malaysia Open 2025, three pairs including national top mixed doubles duo Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei and men’s doubles Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun stood out to march to the second round.
In the season opener held in Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil, here, Tang Jie-Ee Wei did not have much problems to dismantle Wu Hsuan-Yi-Yang Chu Yun of Taiwan, 21-8, 21-9 in just 27-minutes and became the first Malaysians to triumph in the first round of Super 1000 tourney.
Despite the initial setbacks of their compatriots, Ee Wei said they stayed focused and were unaffected by the results of other matches.
“We did not think much and just want Malaysian representatives to win, more so on homeground,” she told reporters at the mixed zone.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei will have to earn a quarter-finals spot against another Taiwanese pair, Ming Che Lu-Hung En-Tzu, who denied an all Malaysian affair after a rubber set win over up and coming duo Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin, 28-26, 14-21, 24-22.
Meanwhile, Wei Chong-Kai Wun needed 37-minutes to secure a second round spot through straight set win over Kenya Mitsuhashi-Hiroki Okamura of Japan, 21-12, 21-17.
Despite committing several errors in the match, Kai Wun was relieved that they eventually prevailed to the second round meeting with eighth seeds of Taiwan Lee Jhe-Huei-Yang Po-Hsuan, who disposed teammates Chiang Chien-Wei-Wu Hsuan-Yi, 21-18, 16-21, 21-16.
In women’s doubles, professional pair Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien shone by seeing off Taiwan’s Cheng Yu-Pei-Sun Yu Hsing, 21-11, 21-17 to make it to the next round.
However, a tricky path awaits Vivian-Chiew Sien as they will be facing top seeds and world number one from China, Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning who dispatched Denmark’s Julie Finne-Ipsen-Mai Surrow, 21-10, 21-10.
Meanwhile national women’s doubles top pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah could not shake off their first round jinx at the Malaysia Open as they suffered their third consecutive first-round exits, this time at the hands of scratch pair Lanny Tria Mayasari-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti of Indonesia.
Third seeds Pearly-Thinaah, let slip their opening set win, 21-19, before losing their rhythm and succumbed 14-21, 13-21 in the next two sets.
Pearly admitted that it was difficult to adapt to the new pairing’s unpredictable gameplay, particularly their powerful smashes, which played a key role in today’s defeat.
Another national women’s duo Go Pei Kee-Teoh Mei Xing suffered a similar fate as they were outplayed by China’s Jia Yi Fan-Zhang Shu Xian 17-21, 10-21.
Earlier today, seven others Malaysian representatives were eliminated including the country’s number one men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani who endured a shocking exit to unseeded Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard of Denmark 15-21, 21-9, 18-21.
