KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 (Bernama) -- National mixed doubles pair Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing face an uphill second-round task after clearing today’s opening hurdle with relative ease at the Denmark Open Badminton Championships at the SJF Bank Arena in Odense.
The world No. 54 Malaysians needed 37 minutes to dispose of Spain’s Ruben Garcia-Lucia Rodriguez 21-18, 21-16 to move into the second round, where they will come up against Thailand’s world No. 3 pair Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran.
The Thais will be clear favourites after defeating Taiwan’s Wu Guan Xun-Lee Chia Hsin 21-18, 21-14 in their opening tie.
Another national mixed doubles pair, Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien, suffered a first-round knockout after going down fighting 21-19, 16-21, 19-21 to Taiwan’s Ye Hong Wei-Nicole Gonzales Chan in 55 minutes.
National men’s singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao also crashed out in the first round after going down 6-21, 19-21 to world No. 16 Koki Watanabe of Japan.
-- BERNAMA