KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 12 – Sea Games champion, S. Kisona will battle Saina Nehwal in the women’s singles first round at the Yonex Thailand Open on Wednesday.
It is fast turning out to be a handful for the young Malaysian in Bangkok who went with the team for the HSBC BWF Tour’s first tournament of the Asian-leg as a sparring partner but found herself in the main draw after a spate of withdrawals when China and Japan withdrew their teams.
Kisona will now face the Indian hope in the opening match on Wednesday for a place in the second. Another Malaysian in action in the first round is Soniia Cheah who will take on rising Korean star, An Se Young who is seeded seventh in the USD1,000 tournament.
Meanwhile, in an all-Malaysian first-round match for the men’s doubles, national number one Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi gave a disappointing performance and went down tamely to former teammates Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong in straight games 7-21, 19-21 in only 28 minutes.
”It is a good start for us and we hope to keep the confidence going. After a long break, it is nice to get the feel of a tournament,” said V Shem.
The V Shem-Wee Kiong pair next faces England’s Ben Lane-Sean Vendy for a place in the quarter-finals.
If Aaron and Wooi Yik were disappointed, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani were all smiles as they marched into the second round with an impressive 21-16, 19-21, 21-11 win over Koreans Ko Sung-hyun-Shin Baek-cheol. The match lasted 61 minutes.
The Koreans, who are making a return to competitive badminton were the world and Asian champions in 2014 and are currently ranked No 25. The 28 ranked Malaysians next face a Danish hurdle in Mathias Christiansen-Niclas Nohr.
It was also a winning start for fifth seeds Chan Pen Soon-Goh Liu Ying who won 22-20, 21-18 against Indonesians Adnan Maulana-Mychelle Crhystine Bandaso in a 39 minute match.
Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie went through the distance to snatch a 21-16, 14-21, 21-17 win over French pair Ronan Lebar-Anne Tran in a 53-minute encounter.
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