Three pairs keep Malaysia in the hunt at Malaysia Open

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia kept their quarter-final hopes alive at the Malaysia Open on Thursday through men's doubles Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, while mixed doubles top seeds Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei also advanced to the last eight at Axiata Arena.

World No. 2 Aaron-Wooi Yik showed composure to beat China's scratch pairing Chen Xu Jun-Liu Yang 21-14, 14-21, 21-14 in the second round, grinding through a physical decider.

Their reward is a stern test against Indonesia's world No. 8 Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani, a pairing who have had the edge in recent meetings.

The Indonesians booked their quarter-final spot after triumphing over South Korea's world No. 22 Kang Min Hyuk-Ki Dong Ju in a gruelling 68-minute battle 21-10, 14-21, 21-19.

The Malaysians trail the head-to-head 4-1 and have lost three of their last four encounters, including the SEA Games final where Sabar-Reza won in straight games.

However, the former world champions will take confidence from their most recent victory over the Indonesians, a three-game win in the quarter-finals of the French Open last October.

Aaron said the focus would be on a fresh start rather than past results.

"I think we will just focus on ourselves and do our best. It's a new year," he said.

"Everything has passed. So this year everything is starting from zero and this is our first tournament this year also," he said.

World No. 5 Wei Chong-Kai Wun were equally convincing earlier, brushing aside Japan's world No. 26 Hiroki Midorikawa-Kyohei Yamashita 21-9, 21-15 with a dominant display built on speed and sharp front-court pressure.

Their quarter-final opponents will be world No. 1 Koreans Kim Won Ho-Seo Seung Jae who defeated Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong 21-15, 21-16.

Wei Chong-Kai Wun have never beaten the reigning world champions, trailing 5-0 in the head-to-head.

Wei Chong acknowledged the challenge posed by Won Ho-Seung Jae. "For now, we can only prepare our own game because the last few times we fought them, we haven't won yet. So we hope next, we can perform well against them," he said.

In mixed doubles, world No. 4 Tang Jie-Ee Wei lived up to their billing by overcoming world No. 21 Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin 21-13, 23-21 in an all-Malaysian clash, showing greater control in the key moments of the second game.

They will next face Hong Kong's world No. 8 Tan Chung Man-Tse Ying Suet, a pairing they lead 2-1 in the head-to-head, although the Hong Kong duo won their most recent meeting at the French Open last October in straight games.

Lower down the card, several Malaysians bowed out against higher-ranked or in-form opponents.

Men's singles player world No. 28 Leong Jun Hao was beaten 21-18, 21-11 by Indonesia's world No. 4 Jonatan Christie, while men's doubles world No. 7 Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani fell 21-13, 21-17 to England's world No. 16 Ben Lane-Sean Vendy.

World No. 17 Arif Junaidi-Yap Roy King were also eliminated after a 21-18, 21-11 loss to India's world No. 3 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty.

In women's doubles, world No. 2 Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah were edged out 26-24, 21-17 by Indonesia's world No. 60 Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Meilysa Trias Puspitasari, while mixed doubles pair world No. 9 Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai lost 21-9, 21-17 to world No. 32 Americans Presley Smith-Jennie Gai.

Meanwhile, the men's doubles quarter-finals will see Kim Won Ho-Seo Seung Jae advance after defeating Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong, setting up the possibility of a blockbuster clash with Wei Chong-Kai Wun.

Malaysia Open Day 3 selected results

Malaysians unless stated

Men's singles: Shi Yu Qi (Chn) bt Ayush Shetty (Ind) 21-18, 18-21, 21-12; Lee Cheuk Yiu (HK) bt Lakshya Sen (Ind) 22-20, 21-15; Jonatan Christie (Ina) bt Leong Jun Hao 21-18, 21-11; Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) bt Lu Guang Zu (Chn) 21-18, 16-21, 21-16; Anders Antonsen (Den) bt Victor Lai (Can) 21-16, 21-15; Alex Lanier (Fra) bt Nhat Nguyen (Irl) 21-8, 21-19; Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Koki Watanabe (Jpn) 21-12, 21-14.

Men's doubles: Ben Lane-Sean Vendy (Eng) bt Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani 21-13, 21-17; Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) bt Kakeru Kumagai-Hiroki Nishi (Jpn) 24-22, 21-10; Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (Ind) bt Arif Junaidi-Yap Roy King 21-18, 21-11; Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik bt Chen Xu Jun-Liu Yang (Chn) 21-14, 14-21, 21-14; Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun bt Hiroki Midorikawa-Kyohei Yamashita (Jpn) 21-9, 21-15; Kim Won Ho-Seo Seung Jae (Kor) bt Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong 21-15, 21-16.

Women's singles: An Se Young (Kor) bt Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) 21-17, 21-7; Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt (Den) bt Han Yue (Chn) (WO); Chen Yu Fei (Chn) bt Busanan Ongbamrungphan (Tha) 19-21, 21-12, 21-9; Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) bt Mia Blichfeldt (Den) 21-8, 21-7; P. V Sindhu (Ind) bt Tomoka Miyazaki (Jpn) 21-8, 21-13; Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Gao Fang Jie (Chn) 21-11, 4-21, 21-17.

Women's doubles: Jeong Na Eun-Lee Yeon Woo (Kor) bt Ornicha Jongsathpornparn-Sukitta Suwachai (Tha) 21-14, 21-13; Kaho Osawa-Mai Tanabe (Jpn) bt Kim Hye Jeong-Kong Hee Yong (Kor) 23-21, 17-21, 21-19; Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Meilysa Trias Puspitasari (Ina) bt Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah 26-24, 21-17; Baek Ha Na-Lee So Hee (Kor) bt Hu Ling Fang-Jheng Yu Chieh (Tai) 21-12, 21-9; Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning bt (Chn) Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara (Jpn) 21-19, 21-9.

Mixed doubles: Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet (HK) bt Chen Cheng Kuan-Hsu Yin Hui (Tai) 21-14, 21-19; Presley Smith-Jennie Gai (US) bt Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai 21-9, 21-17; Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei bt Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin 21-13, 23-21; Jiang Zhen Bang-Wei Ya Xin (Chn) bt Phuwanat Horbanluekit-Benyapa Aimsaard (Tha) 21-12, 21-12; Dechapol Puavarakukroh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) bt Akira Koga-Natsu Saito (Jpn) 16-21, 21-8, 21-19; Jesper Toft-Amalie Magelund (Den) bt Julien Maio-Lea Palermo (Fra) 17-21, 21-14, 21-13; Guo Xin Wa-Chen Fang Hui (Chn) bt Marvin Seidel-Nguyen Thuc Phuong (Ger) 13-21, 21-16, 21-10; Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping (Chn) bt Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi (Chn) 22-20, 21-16.