Bangkok: Malaysia’s World No. 14 men’s doubles pair Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong were determined to maintain an outstanding performance at the Thai Open Yonex at Impact Arena, Bangkok, Thailand, as they secured their berths in the semi-finals on Friday.
Despite struggling with drift inside the stadium, the 2016 Rio Olympic silver medalists defeated compatriots Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin 21-16, 21-19 in 40 minutes.
“We have to add more power when smashing due to the unpredictable drift but we hope to remain consistent in tomorrow’s match,” said Goh to Malaysian media.
The duo will take on Indonesia’s 2019 Boy’s Doubles World Junior Championships gold medalists Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin in the semi-finals.
Carnando/Marthin sidelined England pair and Rio Olympics bronze medalists Marcus Ellis/Chris Langridge 12-21, 21-14, 21-15 in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, another Malaysian men’s doubles pair, Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi, was defeated in the quarter-finals when they lost to sixth-seeded Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin of Taiwan 21-23, 15-21.
Although World No. 7 mixed doubles pair, Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying put up a solid fight against top-seeded Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai from Thailand, unfortunately, they made uncharacteristic unforced errors at the end of each set to eventually went down to the Thai pair 18-21, 17-21.
In women’s doubles, young pair from Malaysia Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan was knocked out of the tournament by No. 5 seeds of Indonesia Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu, losing 15-21, 12-21.
