PETALING JAYA: Malaysian doubles shuttlers turned on the power on the second day of the All England championships after a dismal opening day, with seven pairs from various categories smashing their way into the second round.
Among them were men’s doubles pairs Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King, Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun and Kang Khai Xin-Aaron Tai.
Also through are women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M Thinaah and mixed doubles duo Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie.
Men’s singles player Leong Jun Hao made it to the last 16 of the prestigious World Tour Super 1000 championships a day earlier.
World No 2 pair Aaron-Wooi Yik scored a convincing victory over the 28th-ranked Chen Zhi Yi-Presley Smith from the US, winning 21-17, 21-17 in 38 minutes.
Malaysia is assured of a spot in the men’s doubles quarter-finals as Aaron-Wooi Yik will clash with compatriots Wan Arif-Roy King, who battled for 69 minutes to overcome Danish pair Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard 21-19, 18-21, 21-18.
World No 8 pair Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin proved too good for 27th-ranked Japanese pair Kakeru Kumagai-Nishi Hiroki, winning 21-10, 21-15 in just 31 minutes. They will face Indonesia’s world No 50 Muhammad Rian Ardianto-Rahmat Hidayat in the last 16.
World No 2 women’s doubles aces Pearly-Thinaah powered past Japanese duo Arisa Igarashi-Chiharu Shida, winning 21-19, 21-12 in 46 minutes.
The tournament second seeds will take on South Korean pair Lee Seo Jin-Lee Yeon Woo in the second round.
Malaysia’s other women’s doubles pair, Carmen Ting-Ong Xin Yee, were knocked out, losing easily to Japanese pair Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto 17-21, 8-21.
Khai Xing-Aaron Tai meanwhile stunned top Indian pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty while Wei Chong-Kai Wun and Soon Huat-Shevon had easy wins in their opening matches.
In the All England championships last year, no Malaysians made it past the quarter-final stage.
