Malaysia Open: Five More Malaysian Representatives Check Into Second Round

KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 (Bernama) -- Five of the 11 Malaysian representatives who played on the second day of the 2022 Malaysia Open stormed into the second round of the badminton championships here Wednesday. Malaysia’s men’s singles ace Lee Zii Jia and world number six men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik led the charge by kicking off their Malaysia Open challenge on the right footing at the Axiata Arena. Zii Jia, seeded fifth, needed 47 minutes to thump Nhat Nguyen of Ireland 21-15, 21-11 while Aaron-Wooi Yik fended off a strong challenge from Japanase duo Akira Koga-Taichi Saito. Zii Jia will play Shesar Hiren Rhustavito of Indonesia while Aaron-Wooi Yik will take on Singapore’s Terry Hee Yong Kai-Loh Kean Hean next. National number one women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah also qualified for the next round by beating Liu Xuan Xuan-Xia Yu Ting of China 22-20, 21-13. Pearly-Thinaah will play another pair from China, Zhang Shu Xian-Zheng Yu, in their bid to reach the last eight. Rising star Ng Tze Yong, however, failed to shine as he went down fighting to China’s Lu Guang Zu, losing 16-21, 23-21, 18-21. Professional men’s doubles duo Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub-Lim Khim Wah failed to cap off Malaysia’s challenge in a positive way as they let slip a 21-15 first-game win and lost to Supak Jomkoh-Kittinupong Kedren of Thailand 14-21, 13-21. In total, there will be 10 Malaysian representatives in the second round of the tournament, which commenced Tuesday. -- BERNAMA