Dynamic duo: Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun posing for a photograph after beating French brothers Toma Junior Popov-Christo Popov. — FAIHAN GHANI/The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: The disappointment of missing out on a spot in the World Tour Finals last month is the fuel that has been firing up men’s doubles shuttlers Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun to enjoy a fabulous run in the Malaysian Open.
Yesterday, Wei Chong-Kai Wun smashed their way to the semi-finals in the home tourney after sweeping aside French brothers Toma Junior Popov-Christo Popov 21-15, 21-11 at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil.
The world No. 14 pair were in their control from start to finish against the world No. 29 duo and needed only 31 minutes to come away with the win much to the delight of the home fans.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun have superbly turned around their form in the home Open after letting a good opportunity to qualify for the prestigious Tour Finals for the first time slip away following early round exits in their last two tournaments last year, the Japan and China Masters.
The frustration of letting the chance get away from them has fired the pair up this year.
“We are more fired up to get better results in every tournament (this year) after missing out on the Finals last year,” said Kai Wun.
“We are happy that we could translate what we have been preparing in training in the matches so far here. We trust each other and are also motivated a lot by the support of the fans here.
“We are not satisfied yet and we want to maintain our performance in this tournament.”
Wei Chong said: “We stayed sharp and attacked during the first three shots and this helped us to win today.
“We have to take it step by step and we hope we can perform well tomorrow (today) too.”
Standing in the Wei Chong-Kai Wun’s way to the final today will be China’s world No. 18 Chen Boyang-Liu Yi.
This will be the first meeting between both the pairs in an international tournament.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun are wary of the threat posed by the Boyang-Liu Yi, who upstaged world No. 6 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik in the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open last October.
“The Chinese pair are quite strong. They are fast and aggressive,” said Wei Chong.
“We have to prepare well for the match. We need to come up with a good strategy against them.”
The last Malaysians to reach the men’s doubles final in the home Open was Goh V Shem-Lim Khim Wah, who went on to capture the title in 2014.
Meanwhile, independent pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi could not make it a double joy for Malaysia after they went down fighting 24-26, 15-21 to India’s world No. 9 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty in another last eight clash.
“We were leading halfway in the second game but the Indians changed their strategy and made things difficult for us,” lamented Ee Yi.
Despite the defeat, it was still a positive outing for the world No. 24 duo after they pulled off impressive wins over Indonesia’s world No. 4 Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto and tricky South Koreans Kang Min-hyuk-Jin Yong to reach the quarter-finals.
RESULTS
QUARTER-FINALS
Men’s singles: Li Shifeng (Chn) bt Chi Yu-jen (Tpe) 14-21, 21-13, 21-7; Shi Yuqi (Chn) bt Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) 21-16, 19-21, 21-17; Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) bt Angus Ng Ka Long (Hkg) 21-18, 21-15.
Men’s doubles: Chen Boyang-Liu Yi (Chn) bt Ben Lane-Sean Vendy (Eng) 21-17, 21-17; Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) bt Lee Fang-chih-Lee Fang-jen (Tpe) 21-11, 21-7; Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun (Mas) bt Christo Popov-Toma Junior Popov (Fra) 21-15, 21-11; Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (Ind) bt Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi 26-24, 21-15.
Women’s singles: An Se-young (Kor) bt Zhang Beiweng (US) 21-11, rtd; Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) bt Putri Kusuma (Ina) 21-13, 15-21, 21-16; Wang Zhiyi (Chn) bt Yeo Jia Min (Sin) 22-20, 21-16; Pornpicha Choeikeewong (Tha) bt Han Yue (Chn) 18-21, 21-13, 21-19.
Women’s doubles: Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto (Jpn) bt Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee (Kor) 21-14, 21-18; Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian (Chn) bt Lanny Tria-Siti Fadia Ramadhanti (Ina) 21-12, 21-11; Li Yijing-Luo Xumin (Chn) bt Misaki Matsumoto-Chiharu Shida (Jpn) 21-16, 21-16; Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning (Chn) bt Hsieh Pei-shan-Hung En-tzu (Tpe) 21-11, 21-8.
Mixed doubles: Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) bt Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (Fra) 21-12, 14-21, 21-7; Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie (Mas) bt Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi (Chn) 21-15, 22-20; Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Yang Po-hsuan-Hu Ling-fang (Tpe) 21-19, 21-14; Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (Mas) bt Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito (Jpn) 21-11, 21-18.
SECOND ROUND
Men’s singles: Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) bt Yushi Tanaka (Jpn) 21-9, 22-24, 21-18. Men’s doubles: Christo Popov-Toma Junior Popov (Fra) bt Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard (Den) 7-21, 26-24, 21-13; Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (Ind) bt Lu Ming-che-Tang Kai-wei (Tpe) 21-10, 16-21, 21-5.
Woman’s singles: Han Yue (Chn) bt Malvika Bansod (Ind) 21-18, 21-11.
Woman’s doubles: Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning (Chn) bt Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien (Mas) 21-15, 21-15; Lanny Tria-Siti Fadia Ramadhanti (Ina) bt Hsu Yin-hui-Lin Jhihyun (Tpe) 17-21, 22-20, 21-18; Hsieh Pei-shan-Hung En-tzu (Tpe) bt Chang Ching-hui-Yang Ching-tun (Tpe) 20-22, 21-14, 21-17.
