Lim Khim Wah - Goh Wei Shem surge into Men’s Doubles quarter-final: Japan Open Super Series
Malaysia’s newly formed pair of Lim Khim Wah and Goh Wei Shem delivered their career best performance as they staged an upset against China’s Chai Biao and Guo Zhendong in the Men’s Doubles round-of-16 battle at the 2011 Japan Open Super Series, in Japan, on Thursday, September 22.
World Number 43 couple of Goh Wei and Lim Khim proved their worth against World Number Eight duo of Biao and Zhendong to enter into the Men’s Doubles quarter-final of a Super Series event. In the quarter-final battle, the duo will take on their team-mates, Tan Boon Heong and Koo Kien Keat.
Goh Wei and Lim Khim opened their campaign against the Chinese pair with wonderful speed. Both pairs remained close until the ending points of the match, where the Malaysians failed to finish well and lost the first set with a 19-21 margin.
However, in the following game, the Malaysian pair came back in the match with a determined attitude and won the second game with the margin of 21-19. They played with a greater level of confidence against the higher ranked and experienced rivals.
In the final set, Goh Wei and Lim Khim kept their speed at the maximum level throughout the set and dominated the game at the net. They were playing an effective game at the net as compared to their challengers, which helped them to win the deciding set with a 21-19 score on the board. The match ended with a 19-21, 21-19 and 21-19 margin in 57 minutes.
Tan Kim Her, Malaysia’s chief coach of Doubles, was quite happy with the performance of Goh Wei and Lim Khim. He said, “This is a big upset win for them and I am thrilled. Our pair had more winners at the net compared to the Chinese pair and this was the key to their success.”
While talking about the all Malaysia quarter-final clash, Kim Her said, “It does not matter who wins today, but I guess Koo and Tan will have to go all out because they will have to safeguard their world rankings during this Olympic qualifying period.”
The quarter-final will be played on Friday, September 23, at the indoor arena in Tokyo.
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