Calgary: Malaysia’s independent men’s doubles pair Hoon Thien How/Lim Khim Wah kept their hopes alive to reach the quarter-finals of the Canada Open having fought back from one set behind, to overcome third seeds Michael Fuchs/Johannes Schoettler of Germany with 13-21, 21-18, 21-14 in the men’s doubles second round on Thursday.
Playing well below-par, Hoon Thien How/Lim Khim Wah had no answer to Michael Fuchs/Johannes Schoettler’s variety of shots throughout the first set, as the Malaysian pair suffered an embarrassing first set defeat. However, Hoon/Lim made a remarkable turnaround in the second set, the duo showed impressive feat of durability, toughness and stubbornness, as they reeled off three consecutive points after 18-18 to clinch the second set and to force a decider. Having won the tough second set definitely gave Hoon Thien How/Lim Khim Wah a huge boost of confidence as they scraped past Michael Fuchs/Johannes Schoettler to snatch the decider. The entire match lasted 67 minutes.
Last week’s US Open men’s singles champion Lee Chong Wei, survived a tougher than expected fight from Vincent Wong Wing Ki of Hong Kong by 21-17, 20-22, 21-10, en route to Canada Open quarter-finals berth. Lee won the first without much difficulty; It was nail-biter in the second set, where Vincent Wong Wing Ki was leading by 18-16, 20-19, before Lee Chong Wei broke back with some superb shot-making to draw level at 18-18, 20-20. Vincent Wong Wing Ki then racked up two consecutive points to take the match into a decider. The third set seemed one sided, Lee Chong Wei built a big lead in the decider with 11-3, before Wong started to play a little bit better and to earn few more points. Lee eventually pulled off an amazing comeback win in one of the most difficult matches since his suspension was lifted. Prior to this match, Lee has won 13th consecutive men’s singles matches in straight sets.
Lee will face tenth seed B. Sai Praneeth of India in the quarter-finals on Friday. Interestingly, Lee completed a comprehensive win against the same player (B. Sai Praneeth) in men’s singles semi-final at last week’s US Open.
Men’s singles top seed Marc Zwiebler of Germany edged Kuo Ching-Hung of Chinese Taipei 21-13, 21-14 on Thursday to reach quarter-finals. He will take on ninth seed Ajay Jayaram of India on Friday, who beat 22 year-old Wisnu Yuli Prasetyo of Indonesia 21-12, 17-21, 21-12 in the men’s singles third round.
