KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 — World mixed doubles champions Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei lived up to expectations by advancing to the second round of the China Masters today.
In the match at the Shenzhen Arena in Guangdong, the world number three pair, playing for the first time since winning the World Championships in Paris last month, had no trouble defeating the United States' pair Chen Zhi Yi-Francesca Corbett in straight sets 21-12, 21-14 in just 31 minutes.
“Today’s match, I felt okay because we have played in China a few times. We just need to keep up our momentum,” Chen said in an audio clip shared by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) today.
Awaiting Chen-Toh in the second round tomorrow are Indonesia’s Jafar Hidayatullah-Felisha Pasaribu, who advanced after beating Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito 23-21, 21-17.
For the record, in last year’s edition, Chen-Toh ended their campaign in the semi-finals after losing to former world number one mixed doubles pair Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping of China 21-18, 21-13.
Meanwhile, national professional men's singles player Lee Zii Jia failed to end his losing streak in the first round when he lost to Taiwanese representative Lin Chun Yi.
The Paris Olympic bronze medallist started well when he won the first set 21-17, but failed to continue his excellent run in the second set when he lost 21-23 before retiring in the third set when he was 6-14 down.
Also failing to advance to the second round were national men's doubles pair Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi, who lost to India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty 22-24, 13-21.
