All three seeded Malaysian mixed doubles pairs in the USD200,000 Gwangju Korea Masters advanced to the second round after winning their respective first-round matches at the Gwangju Women’s University Stadium on Tuesday.
Sixth seeds Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie, who reached the semi-finals in last week’s Hong Kong Open made the second round with a 21-9, 20-22, 21-11 win over Wang Chi Lin-Cheng Chi Ya of Chinese Taipei in 43 minutes.
Eighth-seeded Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing made short work of China’sRen Xiang Yu-Zhou Chao Min with a straight game 21-10, 21-16 victory to earn a second-round clash against Lee Jhe Huei-Hsu Ya Ching of Chinese Taipei.
Rio Olympics silver medallists Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying overcame a tough first game against Thailand’s Nipitphon Phuangphuapet-Savitree Amitrapai with a 23-21, 21-16.
The sixth-seeded Malaysian professionals next play Japan’s Hiroki Okamura-Chisato Hoshi for a place in the last eight.
Meanwhile, newly crowned Malaysian International Challenge in Kangar champion Cheam June Wei over the weekend failed to make the main draw in the men’s singles.
June Wei won his first match in the qualifying rounds with a 21-16, 21-6 win over Canada’s B.R. Sankeerth. However, in the second match, the Malaysian lost to Lee Chia Hao of Chinese Taipei 21-16, 19-21, 21-18.
