PETALING JAYA: Hoon Thien How-Tan Wee Kiong’s fine run in the French Open came to an end after they were beaten by China’s Hong Wei- Shen Ye in the quarter-finals in Paris yesterday.

Thien How-Wee Kiong had made the last eight by beating Indonesia’s Mohd Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan in superb style a day earlier.

But they failed to reproduce that form as they went down fighting to the fifth-seed China pair 15-21, 22-20, 16-22.

It wasn’t the best of starts for the world No. 20 Malaysians as they failed to cope with the Chinese’s pair’s strong attacking play and easily lost the first game.

But they showed good determination to fight back and take the match into the rubber game.

However, it proved to be in vain as the Chinese pair were simply a class above.

With their defeat, Malaysia’s hopes now rest solely on the shoulders of top pair Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong, who took on South Koreans Ko Sung-hyun-LeeYong-dae later last night.

National singles shuttler Liew Daren was also scheduled to play later against Japan’s Sho Sasaki.

The 25-year-old Daren has climbed to a career best No. 24 in the world and earned words of praise from his coach Rashid Sidek.

“Daren has improved a lot bit he still needs to work on some other weaknesses,” said Rashid.

“I feel that he has matured a lot from playing in more tournaments but I want him to keep up the good work instead of being happy with where he is now.”

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