Professional player Daren Liew continued his winning run in the World Championships in Nanjing, China to keep Malaysia’s interest in the men’s singles alive as he made the third round.
In the second round, the former Thomas Cupper overcame a tough Misha Zilberman of Israel 21-16, 21-16 in 42 minutes to earn a third round clash against India’s hope K. Srikanth. The Indian ace came through a three-game battle to beat Spain’s Pablo Albian 21-15, 12-21, 21-14.
“This time the pressure was on me after my win in the first round against Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie,” said Daren after his win over Misha.
“There was no focus on me when I came to Nanjing. I was virtually an unknown. However, I hope to win my next match which is a real tough one for me.”
There was more joy in the Malaysian camp when former world junior champion Goh Jin Wei also booked a place in the third round with a 21-18, 22-20 win over Japan’s Aya Ohori.
Jin Wei faces a bigger hurdle in the third when she faces reigning world champion and No 8 seed Nozomi Okuhara. Okuhara defeated Canadian Rachel Honderich 21-11, 21-9
In the men’s doubles, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik continued to impress in Nanjing despite earning a late call-up for the world meet. The pair made the third round with an upset 16-21, 21-18, 21-19 win over No 12 seeds Lee Jhe-huei-Lee yang of Chinese Taipei.
They face either Denmark’s No 8 seeds Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen or India’s Satwiksairaj Rankereddy-Chirag Shetty in the third round.
No 13 seeds Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean staved off a late challenge from Germany’s Isabel Herttrich-Carla Nelte in a nail-biting 66-minute encounter to prevail 16-21, 21-17, 22-20 in the second round.
The Malaysians, who finished runners-up in last week’s Russian Open in Vladivostok, will next face Indonesian fifth seeds Greysia Polii-Apriyani Rahayu who romped past Hong Kong’s Ng Wing Yung-Yuen Sin Ying 21-9, 21-10.
