V Shem broke four racquets
Malaysia will have no representatives in the Maybank Malaysia Open after the defeat of Goh V Shem – Tan Wee Kiong in the men’s doubles first round match against China’s Chai Biao-Hong Wei – the runners-up last year.
V Shem had the men’s doubles last year when he partnered Chaqi Biao-Hong Wei in the final in the encounter on Wednesday – on a day when the women doubles put up a gutsy performance to give the home fans something to cheer.
V Shem-Wee Kiong, however, put a strong performance against the Chinese pair but it was not good enough to advance to the second round on Thursday. The slogged for one hour before winning 21-18, 15-21, 21-14.
“I broke four racquets…maybe it was not a lucky day for us,” said V Shem. “We may have lost in the first round today but it was far better performance compared to the Swiss Open.
“We won’t give up and hope to do better in next week’s Singapore Open. We gave our best but the Chinese were more focused and aggressive when it mattered.”
Earlier the Commonwealth and SEA Games champions Vivian Hoo and Woon Khe Wei were joined in the second by Amelia Alicia Anscelly-Soong Fie Cho who took 31 minutes to beat the Dutch pair of Samantha Barning-Iris Tableing 21-13, 21-17 in the first round.
In the men’s singles no Malaysian qualified for the main draw when Chong Wei Feng, Daren Liew and Goh Soon Huat failed to get past the qualifying rounds. Women’s singles also saw the exit of Tee Jing Yi in the qualifiying round.
