French Open: Peng Soon-Liu Ying advance to second round

by BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian independent mixed doubles pair, Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying managed to avoid a repeat of their Denmark Open first-round heartbreak to advance to the second round of the French Open yesterday.

The 2016 Rio Olympic silver medallists edged Dhruv Kapila- N.Reddy Sikki of India 21-19, 21-19 in the opening round at the Pierre de Coubertin Stadium, Paris.

The fifth-seeded pair, who faced a shock elimination in the hands of Chang Tak Ching-Ng Wing Yung at Odense last week, however, missed the chance for a revenge match against the Hong Kong shuttlers Tak Ching-Wing Yung who lost 21-15, 17-21, 18-21 to Japan’s Yuki Kaneko-Misaki Matsutomo in another match.

Peng Soon-Liu Ying will now face the Japanese pair in the round of 16.

The country’s other mixed doubles pair, Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie also checked into the second round, after easily eliminating Oliver Leydon-Davis- Anona Pak of New Zealand 21-9, 21-12 in 25 minutes.

The world number 13 pair is set to face Russians Rodion Alimov-Alina Davletova, who defeated Ko Sung Hyun-Eom Hye Won of South Korea 21-17, 21-11, tomorrow.

Meanwhile, in the men’s doubles, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi defeated former national teammates Goh Sze Fei- Nur Izzuddin Rumsani 22-24, 22-20, 21-17 after a battle lasting one hour and 10 minutes.

The seventh-seeded pair will now challenge England’s Callum Hemming-Steven Stallwood in the second round.

Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin couldn’t repeat their Denmark Open’s fairytale run, where the world number 26, en route to the semifinals, eliminated world number 10 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty of India and world number seven Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia.

Other results

Men’s doubles:

  • Mark Lamfuss-Marvin Seidel (GER) bt Tan Kiang Meng-Tan Wee Kiong 21-18, 21-15

Women’s doubles:

  • Alexandra Boje-Mette Poulsen (DEN) bt Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien 21-12, 21-14

(Note: Malaysians unless stated)