Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold 2011: Home favourites face mixed luck on day two
Local heroes at the Yonex Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold 2011 faced a mixed luck at the Jalan s**a Menanti in Alor Setar on day two after surviving the qualifying round on Thursday.
The Malaysians entered the first round with high aims but only half of them could make it to the quarter-final stage Friday after the initial round.
The spectators saw a topsy-turvy situation at the arena as many local youngsters caused major upsets while a few experienced Malaysian shuttlers crashed out of the event.
The veteran Wong Choong Hann, seeded eighth, faced a merciless defeat at the hands of his opponent Anup Sridhar from India by 15-21, 15-21 in straight sets. However, some other Malaysian players in the draw are still capable of advancing to the next stages.
Top seed Lee Chong Wei is one of the top players from Malaysia who can make the host country proud. The tournament has a large entry list which is why the shuttlers had to play and win two matches to move into the quarter-final stage of the event.
Chong Wei’s compatriot, Beryno Wong beat the Indian Gurusai Datt 19-21, 23-21, 21-18 and Tam Chun Hai of Hong Kong 18-21, 21-14, 21-13 to paddle himself into the quarter-final stage. The former Malaysia national back-up player Wong left his national team
in 2007 after he joined it two years ago in 2005.
P. Kashyap thrashed Lok Chong Chieh 22-20, 21-7 in another India-Malaysia encounter of the first round but faced a straight set defeat at the hands of the French shuttler, Brice Leverdez. The French will meet the Malaysian Wong in the quarter-final on Friday,
May 6, 2011.
In the women’s singles category, all favourite shuttlers survived their first round clashes convincingly. However, Netherlands’ Yao Jie lost to the Japanese, Ai Goto by 20-22, 21-19, 13-21 after a 45-minute battle.
The mixed doubles team of Indonesia, Ricky Widianto and Shendy Puspa caused a major upset in the category on the second day beating All England champions, Ma Jin and Xu Chen by 21-18, 21-18.
Ad interim, Thailand International champions duo of Tan Aik Quan and Lai Pei Jing defeated Wong Wai Hong and Chau Hoi Wah by 21-18, 22-20.
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