Top seeds stunned, Chong Wei, Taufik stay on track
News 4:28 PM
Top seeds and former World No 1 Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty crashed out in the first round while France’s Pi Hongyan endured another tough three-game encounter before booking her place in the last eight of the YONEX-SUNRISE Malaysia Open GP Gold tournament in Johor Bahru.
In the men’s singles, Lee Chong Wei and Taufik Hidayat stayed on track for a repeat of the Indonesia Open final after they won their respective third round matches at the Bandaraya Stadium on Thursday.Eei Hui and Pei Tty, the top seeds in women’s doubles, could not sustain the pressure from Indonesia’s Melati Nadya-Vita Marissa and were shown the exit in straight games, 23-25, 12-21. 
“I have just recovered from my injury and the tournament was a good opportunity to gauge my fitness and recovery after the injury,’ said Pei Tty who played with a heavily strapped knee.
“There is still a lot of work to be done but we need some matches under our belt as we want to prepare well for the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games later this year.
“We will play in Macau and Chinese Taipei and these tournaments will provide us with more opportunity to get some competitive matches.”
Hongyan, another player who is returning to competition after a knee injury, however, had a better outing as she beat Singapore’s Xing Aiying 21-17, 16-21, 21-15 to make the cut for the quarter-finals.
“It was another tough match and I am happy to get through to the last eight. In fact, I am happier with the way I played compared to yesterday’s (Wednesday) match,” said Hongyan referring to her three-game win against Hong Kong’s Tze Ying Suet on Wednesday.
“My movement on court was better and I had better control of my shots. I expect another tough match tomorrow (Friday) and it is going to be another battle.”
Hongyan will take on Thailand’s Salakjit Ponsana in the quarter-finals. The Thai beat Indonesia’s Maria Kristin Yulianti 13-21, 21-17, 21-18.
Malaysia’s Wong Mew Choo and Tee Jing Yi also progressed to the last eight after their wins over Hong Kong’s Mong Kwan Yi (21-14, 21-11) and Macau’s Wang Rong (21-18, 9-21, 21-19) respectively.
In the men’s singles, Malaysia will have three representatives in the last eight with Chong Wei, Wong Choong Hann and Mohd Hafiz Hashim recording wins.
One Malaysian is assured of a place in the semi-final as Choong Hann and Hafiz will lock horns while Chong Wei, who beat Hong Kong’s Wong Wi Ki 21-18, 21-11, will take on Indonesia’s Tedjono Andre Kurniawan.
Taufik, the No 2 seed, denied Malaysia’s Tan Chun Seang a place in the last eight with a hard fought 23-21, 22-20 win.
In the men’s doubles, Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong, the top seeds, had little difficulty in their 21-7, 21-13 win over compatriots Ow Yao Han-Yew Hong Kheng. However, second seeds Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan were stretched all the way by Malaysia’s Hoon Thien How-Ong Soon Hock before prevailing to win 21-19, 19-21, 22-20.
Posted by Lucas Liau
on 4:28 PM.
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