Jakarta: Malaysia’s World No. 25 Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi pulled off an upset on Saturday as they overcame World No. 3 Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda 21-14, 21-17 to enter the Asian Games quarter-finals at Istora Senayan in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Playing with no pressure, Ong acknowledged they applied some new tactics that proven to be effective in subduing the top Japanese men’s doubles pair.
“We played well today, we did not give them easy opportunity to attack and we were able to score some quick points,” said Ong.
“They are experienced men’s doubles players, and we do not want to give them any easy chances. That’s why we’ve tried to play some difficult shots since the beginning of the match,” added Ong.
Teo/Ong made some good net shots during the match that appear to be very effective against the Japanese pair. The Malaysian duo will take on local shuttler and World No. 9 Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto in the quarter-finals on Sunday.
Another Malaysian men’s pair, Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong also brushed away Bikash Shrestha/Nabin Shrestha of Nepal 21-9, 21-12 to meet World No. 1 Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia next.
“Matches between us and Marcus/Kevin were usually closely fought. The most important thing for us is to stay confident,” said Tan.
In their three career meetings against the Indonesian pair, Tan/Goh had only won one at the 2015 Switzerland Open. They lost their last meeting at the 2018 Thomas Cup in May, losing 19-21, 22-20, 13-21.
