# Teck Zhi pulls off a stunner to reach the quarter-finals
# Soon Huat tumbles in third round
Malaysian youngster Soo Teck Zhi pulled off a stunning upset to reach the men’s singles quarter-finals in the USD120,000 SKYCITY New Zealand Open Grand Prix Gold in Auckland on Thursday.
Teck Zhi, the 2013 Asian junior champion, showed fine form to beat Taiwan’s fourth seed Hsu Jen-hao in straight sets 21-17, 21-10 in 40 minutes to earn a quarter-final berth.
The Malaysian will face Chinese youngster Shi Yuqi for a place in the semi-finals. Yuqi upset another seeded player – fifth seed Ihsan Maulana Mustofa – 21-19, 21-16.
It was a bad days for the seeded players when Japan’s Riichi Takeshita dumped sixth seed Ginting Anthony of Indonesia in three sets 12-21, 21-15, 21-16.
Another Malaysian player, 10th seed Goh Soon Huat was shown the exit when he lost to third seed Lee Dong Keun of South Korea in straight sets 16-21, 15-21 after a hard fought match which lasted 56 minutes.
Korean veteran Son Wan-ho is the stop seed in the tournament and made shortwork of Israel’s Misha Zilbermann 21-12, 21-8 in his third round match.
Earlier Malaysia also reached the quarter-finals in the mixed doubles when third seeds Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying, ranked No 13 in the world, defeated the Australian pair of Matthew Chau-Gronya Somerville 21-16, 18-21, 21-16.
SELECTED RESULTS (Third Round)
Men’s singles
Soo Teck Zhi (Mas) beat Hsu Jen-hao (Tpe) 21-17, 21-10
Lee Dong Keun (Kor) beat Goh Soon Huat (Mas) 21-16, 21-15
Huang Yuxiang (Chn) beat Lin Guipu (Chn) 21-14, 21-12
Son Wan-ho (Kor) beat Misha Zilberman (Isr) 21-12, 21-8
Riichi Takeshita (Jpn) beat Ginting Anthony (Ina) 12-21, 21-15, 21-16
Ngueyn Tien Minh (Vie) beat Fikri Ihsandi Hadmadi (Ina) 21-13, 21-12
Mixed Doubles (Second Round)
Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying (Mas) beat Matthew Chau-Groney Somerville (Aus) 21-16, 18-21, 21-16
