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Choong Hann wins to inch closer towards world c’ships

Posted by Lucas Liau Latest News 2:51 PM

PETALING JAYA: Veteran Wong Choong Hann took a giant step to consolidate his position to qualify for the world championships in August by advancing to the third round of the Australian Open badminton championships in Melbourne yesterday.

The eighth seeded Malaysian thrashed Australia’s Ashwant Gobinathan 21-6, 21-10 in the first round and went on to beat Japan’s Yuichi Ikeda 21-19, 21-16 to set up a match against Frenchman Matthieu Lo.

The 34-year-old Choong Hann is now the second ranked Malaysian at No. 24 on the world list behind top ranked Lee Chong Wei.

A country can have two shuttlers in the competition if they are ranked among the top 64 and a maximum of three entries if all are in the top 24.

Meanwhile, KLRC’s Mohd Hafiz Hashim, who is making a last-ditch attempt to qualify for the world championships, also advanced to the third round.

The 10th seeded Hafiz defeated Japan’s Kazuteru Kozai 21-19, 21-13 and then prevailed against Indonesian Andre Kurniawan Tedjono, winning 21-15, 17-21, 21-9. 9 minutes.

The world No. 33 will be up against sixth seeded Japanese Sho Sasaki for a place in the quarter-finals.

In other matches, Zufadli Zulkifli was forced to retire due to an injury whilst trailing China’s Lu Yi 16-21, 21-12, 12-14 in the second round.

RESULTS
* Matches involving Malaysians

MEN’S SINGLES

First round: Chiang Jiann Shiarng bt Marius Fartum (Nor) 21-19, 21-17; Mohd Hafiz Hashim bt Kazuteru Kozai (Jpn) 21-19, 21-13; Zulfadli Zulkifli bt Vatannejad-Soroush Eskandari (Irn) 21-9, 21-19; Nguyen Tien Minh (Vie) bt K. Yogendran 21-16, 21-13; Wong Choong Hann bt Ashwant Gobinathan (Aus) 21-6, 21-10.

Second round: Wong Wing Ki (Hkg) bt Jiann Shiarng 14-21, 21-10, 21-10; Hafiz bt Andre Kurniawan Tedjono (Ina) 21-15, 17-21, 21-9; Lu Yi (Chn) bt Zulfadli 21-16, 12-21, 14-12 rtd; Choong Hann bt Yuichi Ikeda (Jpn) 21-19, 21-16.

MIXED DOUBLES

First round: Gan Teik Chai-Ng Hui Lin bt Ross Smith-Kate Wilson Smith (Aus) 21-16, 21-15; Tan Bin Shen-Ng Hui Ern bt Chen Zhuofu- Xiao Ting (Chn) 19-21, 21-19, 21-11.