Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie

The one year chase for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics qualifying points has begun with the New Zealand Open in Auckland on Tuesday with two Malaysian mixed doubles pairs clearing their first hurdle with ease.
 
It was a winning start for Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing who upset sixth seeds Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas Mentari of Indonesia 21-18, 21-14 in 32 minutes. The pair will meet another Indonesian pair Akbar Bintang Cahyono-Annisa Saufika.
 
Third seeds Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie clinched a 21–11, 21-17 win over Singapore’s Danny Bawa Chrisnanta-Tan Wei Han in 31 minutes. They next face Lee Jhe Huei-Hsu Ya Ching of Chinese Taipei who beat Australians Even Wong-Jacqueline Yu 21-6, 21-4.
 
Meanwhile, in the men’s singles, Soong Joo Ven made the main draw together with Malaysian professional Chong Wei Feng after the came through the qualifying round matches.
 
Joo Ven defeated Henrikho Wibowo of Indonesia 21-14, 21-15 in the first match and in the second ousted Australia’s Anthony Joe 21-19, 21-13. He opens his campaign against Korean veteran Lee Hyun Il.
 
Wei Feng made the main draw with wins over China’s Goa Zhengze (23-21, 17-221, 21-10) and Croatia’s Zvonimir Durkinjak (21-14, 21-11) to earn a first-round match against Indonesia’s Ihsan Maulana Mustofa.
 
The only casualty was Soo Teck Zhi who fell to India’s Lakshya Sen 11-21, 12-21 in the second match after defeating Indonesia’s Yehezkiel Fritz Mainaky 21-9, 21-19 in the first. – BY RIZAL ABDULLAH
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