Bangkok: World No. 35 mixed doubles pair Hoo Pang Ron/Cheah Yee See was pushed to the distance before pulling off a remarkable comeback to upset World No. 8 pair Hafiz Faizal/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja of Indonesia in 68 minutes at the Toyota Thailand Open quarter-finals on Friday.
Facing the sixth-seeded Indonesian pair, Hoo/Cheah lost the first game 12-21 in just 14 minutes.
The young Malaysian players made some adjustments in the second set, coming back from 4-8, 7-10 to take the lead at 16-15, and managed to fend off the resilient Indonesian pair to win the game with 21-19.
In the deciding game, the Indonesian pair got off to a quick start with 4-0, 6-1. Hoo/Cheah kept their composure despite being down early in the decider and made some incredible shot-making to reverse the lead at 11-10.
It became a tug-of-war between the two pairs after the interval and Hoo/Cheah celebrated the win with 21-19 after Widjaja’s shot found the net. Hoo/Cheah will take on No. 4 seeds Seo Seung Jae/Chae Yujung of Korea in the semi-finals.
In another mixed doubles quarter-final match between Malaysia’s Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying and India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Ashwini Ponnappa, after winning the first game 21-18, Chan/Goh were leading 18-13 in the second game. However, they couldn’t finish the job and wasted three match point opportunities to allow the Indian pair to come back with a 24-22 win in the second set. Goh then suffered a back injury at the end of the third set, and the Malaysian pair ultimately lost the third-game with 20-22.
Rankireddy/Ponnappa will play Thailand’s No. 1 seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai next.
In an all-Malaysian women’s doubles quarter-final, Chow Mei Kuan/Lee Meng Yean of Malaysia fought hard to overcome Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan 22-20, 21-12 in 50 minutes. Chow/Lee will meet No. 4 seeds Kim So Yeong/Kong Hee Yong of Korea in the final four.
