Close battle: Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei beat Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue of France 14-21, 23-21, 21-8 to reach the last eight.
PETALING JAYA: Rising mixed doubles shuttlers Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin keep making heads turn – this time by dumping a top China pair at their own home den for their biggest career win.
The world No. 23 Pang Ron-Su Yin pulled off a sensational win over world No. 3 home pair Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin to reach the China Masters quarter-finals and now stand a good chance of reaching the semis.
The Malaysians showed great fighting spirit and maturity to come from behind to record a 16-21, 21-14, 21-19 victory in 51 minutes at the Shenzhen Gymnasium yesterday.
It was Pang Ron-Su Yin’s first win over Zhenbang-Yaxin after losing both their previous encounters. It was also the pair’s biggest win since they combined last year.
Pang Ron-Su Yin now have a golden opportunity to make it into the last four of a World Tour Super 750 competition for the first time when they play Taiwan’s world No. 33 Chen Cheng-kuan-Hsu Yin-hui today.
The pair said their improved communication was the key to the big win over Zhenbang-Yaxin and hoped to continue their good run.
“We are very happy that we won. We didn’t expect it but of course we go into every match with the mindset to give our very best,” said Pang Ron in a post-match interview with the Badminton World Federation.
“We are communicating more and more now. In the beginning of the year, we didn’t communicate as much.
“For the match just now, they are under pressure while we are the underdog and we just wanted to fight hard,” added Pang Ron.
Su Yin said: “I feel very happy and excited and I hope we can bring out our best in the quarter-finals too.”
Meanwhile, Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei were relieved to come away with the hard-fought win 14-21, 23-21, 21-8 over world No. 17 Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue of France.
Gicquel-Delrue were high on confidence after they finished runners-up in the Japan Masters last week but yesterday, world No. 10 Tang Jie-Ee Wei were more determined.
“They had a very good week in Japan. So, before the match, our strategy was to be patient and not to make simple mistakes,” said Tang Jie.
“In the first game, we struggled to find ways to get points. We kept motivating each other and discussing how to overcome our opponents.”
Tang Jie-Ee Wei will next face world No. 13 homesters Guo Xinwa-Chen Fanghui.
Based on the head-to-head records, the former have a slight advantage as they have come out on top over the latter once in the Hong Kong Open in September.
