Badminton: Hafiz downs Tien Minh to reach q-finals
News 10:33 AM
PETALING JAYA: Mohd Hafiz Hashim scored his first big win of the year to reach the quarter-finals of the Asian Badminton Championships (ABC) in New Delhi yesterday.
Malaysia also enjoyed a good day in the men’s doubles when Thomas Cup Finals aspirants Ong Soon Hock-Hoon Thien How and Mak Hee Chun-Tan Wee Kiong crushed their seeded Japanese opponents to make it to the last eight.
In the third round yesterday, Hafiz defeated fourth seed and world No. 7 Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam 21-19, 14-21, 21-15 in a 51-minute battle.
With the victory, Hafiz, who is ranked at No. 23, is set to be the third Malaysian qualifier for the men’s singles in the world championships in Paris in August. A country can have a maximum of three players if all of them are ranked among the top 24.
The two other Malaysians ranked ahead of Hafiz are Lee Chong Wei (No. 1) and Wong Choong Hann (No. 15).
Hafiz will be out to keep up his momentum today against Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana.
Wong Mew Choo “I played a good game against Tien Minh and remained steady throughout the match. The win can help me to qualify for the world championships,” he said.
“Boonsak is playing in his first tournament since finishing as the runner-up (to Chong Wei) in the Malaysian Open. I will try my best to get the better of him.”
There was also another upset in the men’s singles yesterday with top seeded Indonesian Taufik Hidayat going down to a 20-22, 16-21 defeat by Taiwan’s Hsuan Yu-hsueh.
In the men’s doubles, Soon Hock-Thien How and Hee Chun-Wee Kiong showed their determination to impress the selectors for places in the squad for the Thomas Cup Finals next month.
Soon Hock-Thien How blew away second seeds Hirokatsu Hashimoto-Noriyasu Hirata 21-17, 21-18 while Hee Chun-Wee Kiong defeated eighth seeds Kenichi Hayakawa-Kenta Kazuno 21-17, 21-19 in second-round matches.
Hee Chun-Wee Kiong, who also did well to beat Indonesian scratch pair Bona Septano-Rian Sukmawan 21-14, 21-18 in the opening round, will take on top seeds Chen Hung-ling-Lin Yu-lang of Taiwan while Soon Hock-Thien How will play against South Koreans Cho Gun-woo-Yoo Yeon-seong.
Malaysia’s top women’s singles shuttler Wong Mew Choo (pic) will take on top seed Saina Nehwal today. The Indian defeated Julia Wong yesterday.
* Matches involving Malaysians
MEN’S SINGLES
Third round: Wang Zhengming (Chn) bt Lok Chong Chieh 21-13, 21-18; Mohd Hafiz Hashim bt Nguyen Tien Minh (Vie) 21-19, 14-21, 21-15.
MEN’S DOUBLES
First round: Cho Gun-woo-Yoo Yeon-seong (Kor) bt Goh Wei Shem-Teo Kok Siang 21-16, 21-8; Mak Hee Chun-Tan Wee Kiong bt Bona Septano-Rian Sukmawan (Ina) 21-14, 21-18; Hoon Thien How-Ong Soon Hock bt Bao Duc Duong-Cai Hieu Pham (Vie) 21-11, 21-13.
Second round: Thien How-Soon Hock bt Hirokatsu Hashimoto-Noriyasu Hirata (Jpn) 21-17, 21-18; Hee Chun-Wee Kiong bt Kenichi Hayakawa-Kenta Kazuno (Jpn) 21-17, 21-19.
WOMEN’S SINGLES
Second round: Wong Mew Choo bt Zhang Biewen (Sin) 20-22, 21-9, 21-14; Saina Nehwal (Ind) bt Julia Wong 21-14, 21-16; Zhou Mi (Hkg) bt Lydia Cheah 21-10, 21-15.
WOMEN’S DOUBLES
First round: Goh Liu Ying-Lim Yin Loo bt Sultana Alina-Aktar Shapla (Ban) 21-11, 21-13; Vivian Hoo-Woon Khe Wei bt Pooja Shrestha-Sujana Shrestha (Ind) 21-3, 21-2.
Second round: Miyuki Maeda-Satoko Suetsuna (Jpn) bt Liu Ying-Yin Loo 18-21, 21-11, 21-19; Vivian-Khe Wei bt Eom Hye-won-Jang Ye-na (Kor) 23-21, 21-16.
MIXED DOUBLES
Second round: Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying bt Wang Chia-min-Wang Pei-rong (Tpe) 21-9, 21-11.
Malaysia also enjoyed a good day in the men’s doubles when Thomas Cup Finals aspirants Ong Soon Hock-Hoon Thien How and Mak Hee Chun-Tan Wee Kiong crushed their seeded Japanese opponents to make it to the last eight.
In the third round yesterday, Hafiz defeated fourth seed and world No. 7 Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam 21-19, 14-21, 21-15 in a 51-minute battle.
With the victory, Hafiz, who is ranked at No. 23, is set to be the third Malaysian qualifier for the men’s singles in the world championships in Paris in August. A country can have a maximum of three players if all of them are ranked among the top 24.
The two other Malaysians ranked ahead of Hafiz are Lee Chong Wei (No. 1) and Wong Choong Hann (No. 15).
Hafiz will be out to keep up his momentum today against Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana.
Wong Mew Choo “Boonsak is playing in his first tournament since finishing as the runner-up (to Chong Wei) in the Malaysian Open. I will try my best to get the better of him.”
There was also another upset in the men’s singles yesterday with top seeded Indonesian Taufik Hidayat going down to a 20-22, 16-21 defeat by Taiwan’s Hsuan Yu-hsueh.
In the men’s doubles, Soon Hock-Thien How and Hee Chun-Wee Kiong showed their determination to impress the selectors for places in the squad for the Thomas Cup Finals next month.
Soon Hock-Thien How blew away second seeds Hirokatsu Hashimoto-Noriyasu Hirata 21-17, 21-18 while Hee Chun-Wee Kiong defeated eighth seeds Kenichi Hayakawa-Kenta Kazuno 21-17, 21-19 in second-round matches.
Hee Chun-Wee Kiong, who also did well to beat Indonesian scratch pair Bona Septano-Rian Sukmawan 21-14, 21-18 in the opening round, will take on top seeds Chen Hung-ling-Lin Yu-lang of Taiwan while Soon Hock-Thien How will play against South Koreans Cho Gun-woo-Yoo Yeon-seong.
Malaysia’s top women’s singles shuttler Wong Mew Choo (pic) will take on top seed Saina Nehwal today. The Indian defeated Julia Wong yesterday.
* Matches involving Malaysians
MEN’S SINGLES
Third round: Wang Zhengming (Chn) bt Lok Chong Chieh 21-13, 21-18; Mohd Hafiz Hashim bt Nguyen Tien Minh (Vie) 21-19, 14-21, 21-15.
MEN’S DOUBLES
First round: Cho Gun-woo-Yoo Yeon-seong (Kor) bt Goh Wei Shem-Teo Kok Siang 21-16, 21-8; Mak Hee Chun-Tan Wee Kiong bt Bona Septano-Rian Sukmawan (Ina) 21-14, 21-18; Hoon Thien How-Ong Soon Hock bt Bao Duc Duong-Cai Hieu Pham (Vie) 21-11, 21-13.
Second round: Thien How-Soon Hock bt Hirokatsu Hashimoto-Noriyasu Hirata (Jpn) 21-17, 21-18; Hee Chun-Wee Kiong bt Kenichi Hayakawa-Kenta Kazuno (Jpn) 21-17, 21-19.
WOMEN’S SINGLES
Second round: Wong Mew Choo bt Zhang Biewen (Sin) 20-22, 21-9, 21-14; Saina Nehwal (Ind) bt Julia Wong 21-14, 21-16; Zhou Mi (Hkg) bt Lydia Cheah 21-10, 21-15.
WOMEN’S DOUBLES
First round: Goh Liu Ying-Lim Yin Loo bt Sultana Alina-Aktar Shapla (Ban) 21-11, 21-13; Vivian Hoo-Woon Khe Wei bt Pooja Shrestha-Sujana Shrestha (Ind) 21-3, 21-2.
Second round: Miyuki Maeda-Satoko Suetsuna (Jpn) bt Liu Ying-Yin Loo 18-21, 21-11, 21-19; Vivian-Khe Wei bt Eom Hye-won-Jang Ye-na (Kor) 23-21, 21-16.
MIXED DOUBLES
Second round: Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying bt Wang Chia-min-Wang Pei-rong (Tpe) 21-9, 21-11.
Posted by Lucas Liau
on 10:33 AM.
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