Iskandar Leads Malaysia's Charge Into Second Round Of Macau Open

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 30 (Bernama) -- Malaysian second men's singles shuttler, Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin led the country's charge into the second round of the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold Badminton Championship held at Tap Seac Multisport Pavilion in Macau, on Tuesday. The unseeded player defeated Lee Hock Lai of the United States; winning with 21-17 and 21-19 in the opening round, according to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) website;www.bwfbadminton.org. Iskandar, however, facea a tough second round meet against the fifth seed, Vincent Wong Wing Ki of Hong Kong who received a bye in the first round. Two former national players-- Liew Daren and Tan Chung Seang also made it through to the second round but in contrasting styles. Liew Daren was stretched to play in the rubber-set before defeating Lee Chak Wai of Hong Kong;25-23, 19-21 and 21-15 in a 55-minute match whereas Tan only took 29 minutes to dispatch off hosts' player, Ao Fei Long in 21-14 and 21-16. Malaysia's professional player, Chong Wei Feng, on the other hand, advanced straight to the third round on Wednesday after his opponent in the second round, the third seeded K. Srikanth of India, pulled out from the tournament at the eleventh hour due to an injury. Earlier, Wei Feng had edged Evert Sukamta of Indonesia; 21-17 21-12 in the opening round match. Another Malaysian player, Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif, however, failed to advance to the next round after losing 16-21 and 19-21 to Andre Marteen of Indonesia in the first round. Earlier, Mohamad Arif who teamed up with Indonesian player, Rusydina Antardayu Riodingin in the mixed doubles, entered the main draw by defeating Alan Chan Yun Lung/Wu Yi Ting of Hong Kong;17-21, 21-11 and 21-19 in the qualifying match. A few other Malaysian players will kick-off their campaign in the opening round of the US$120,000 (RM535,374) tournament, tomorrow including 2015 world junior champion, Goh Jin Wei in the women's singles event. --BERNAMA