SINGAPORE, May 28 — Rising stars Kang Khai Xing-Aaron Tai produced a stunning upset at the Singapore Open badminton championships today to join two other national men's doubles pairs: defending champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and former world number one Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Mohd Rumsani, in the quarter-finals.
World No 23 Kang-Tai, competing in only their second Super 750 tournament, stunned world number seven Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani of Indonesia 21-19, 21-17 in 38 minutes in their second-round match at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
On Tuesday (May 26), the young Malaysian pair overcame their world No 23 compatriots Nur Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong 21-15, 21-17 in the opening round.
Kang-Tai will face India’s Chirag Shetty-Satwiksairaj Rankireddy in the last eight.
Meanwhile, world number two Chia-Soh needed 43 minutes to subdue England's Ben Lane-Sean Vendy 21-18, 21-16 to check into the quarter-finals.
The duo can expect a torrid time in the last eight as they will be up against China's world No 5 Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang.
Goh-Izzuddin had a tough time against compatriots Junaidi Arif-Yap Roy King in their second-round clash before prevailing 23-21, 16-21, 21-8 in 52 minutes.
They will have their work cut out for them as they will meet Indonesia's world No 3 Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Shohibul Fikri in the last eight.
Goh admitted that they did not perform well today, and was thankful that they managed to bounce back in the deciding game.
"I think our performance was not that good, but the good thing is we were able to fight back in the third game,” he told Bernama at the mixed zone.
There was more joy for Malaysia when Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei advanced to the mixed doubles quarter-finals after overcoming South Korea's Kim Jae Hyeon-Jang Ha Jeong 22-20, 21-14 in a tense 41-minute second-round clash.
The world number four mixed pair will meet India's Dhruv Kapila-Tanisha Crasto in the quarter-finals.
However, it was the end of the road for Malaysia's top women’s doubles pair of Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan, who succumbed to a 16-21, 19-21 Thai siblings Benyapa Aimsaard-Nuntakarn Aimsaard in just 37 minutes.
The world number two women's duo admitted that their game was disjointed, with the pair looking rusty following Tan's two-month injury layoff.
