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Macau Open: It’s up to Chong Wei

PETALING JAYA: World number one Lee Chong Wei made it to the quarter-finals of the men’s singles event in the Macau Open yesterday but the other two Malaysian representatives fell by the wayside.
Chong Wei, the number one seed, took only 30 minutes to dump Thai youngster Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk 21-12, 21-19 to set up a meeting against another budding talent – Shon Wan-ho of South Korea.

Liew Daren and Wong Choong Hann fought tooth and nail before going down in the third round. Back-up shuttler Daren ran out of luck in the crucial stages in his 12-21, 21-19, 18-21 defeat by unseeded Wong Wing Ki of Hong Kong.

He was trailing 18-19 in the decider but a few unlucky shots saw him missing a chance of reaching his first quarter-finals in an Open tournament this year.

Choong Hann, however, could not keep up after a good start against Taiwanese Hsing Hsieh-yu. After a narrow 22-20 first game win, he ran out of steam to go down 19-21,10-21.

Ran out of steam: Wong Choong Hann lost to Taiwan’s Hsing Hsieh-yu 20-22, 21-19, 21-10 in the third round of the Macau Open.
 
National coach Hendrawan was not too disappointed with Daren’s failure to join Chong Wei in the last eight.
“Daren played the right cards but he was unlucky towards the end of the rubber game. The Hong Kong player’s strong weapon was his smashes and this troubled Daren,” said Hendrawan in a telephone interview.
As for Chong Wei, Hendrawan said: “Chong Wei is playing well. After an effortless win in the first game, Chong Wei did not push himself in the second. Despite that, he still managed to win.”

Hendrawan, however, admitted that Wan-ho would be a handful for Chong Wei in the quarter-finals.
The Korean youngster stretched the Malaysian at this year’s All-England before going down 21-14, 14-21, 14-21 in the quarter-finals.

“Besides Wan-ho, Chong Wei may also face some problems handling the strong draught in the stadium and the slow shuttle used in the championships. But I am confident that he will pull through,” said Hendrawan.
Like Daren and Choong Hann, Wong Mew Choo was also shown the exit.

She went down 21-14, 9-21, 24-26 to Taiwanese Cheng Shao-chieh in the women’s singles second round.
Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty, however, lived to fight another day. They scored a 21-10, 23-21 win over Indonesia’s Anneke Feinya Agustine-Annisa Wahyuni.

The second seeds will take on Indonesia’s formidable pair Meiliana Jauhari-Lilyana Natsir today for a place in the semi-finals.
In the men’s doubles, the Malaysian challenge were all beaten in the second round.

By RAJES PAUL


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