Malaysian doubles shuttlers, led by world No. 5 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, made a big impact with five pairs checking into the China Masters quarter-finals in Shenzhen yesterday.
Marching into the last eight are world No. 8 Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin, women's doubles Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (No. 6) as well as mixed doubles Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (No. 10) and Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin (No. 23).
Men's pair Aaron-Wooi Yik took a giant step into qualifying for the World Tour Final (WTF) when they defeated compatriots Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong 21-13, 21-19 in a 36-minute second round clash in the Super 750 event.
Needing to at least reach the semi-finals at the China Masters to safeguard their qualification for the WTF in Hangzhou on Dec 11 to 15, Aaron-Wooi Yik produced another impressive performance.
They will need to keep their momentum against China's World No. 6 He Ji Ting-Ren Xiang Yu in the quarter-finals where a win will secure them a place in the season-ending WTF. Ji Ting-Xiang Yu ousted Malaysia's Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King in the second round with a 21-10, 21-19 win in 43 minutes.
World No. 8 Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin's unexpected defeat to compatriots Azriyn-Wee Kiong at the Kumamoto Masters last week may have been a wake-up call for the former. The high-riding Sze Fei-Izzuddin were brought down to earth by world No. 35 Azriyn-Wee Kiong in the second round.
However, Sze Fei-Izzuddin stayed focused to secure a clinical 21-18, 21-16 win over Taiwan dangermen Chiu Hsiang Chieh-Wang Chi Lin in 37 minutes at the China Masters.
Chi Lin, who won the last two Olympics men's doubles gold with his now-retired partner Lee Yang, started combining with Hsiang Chieh after the Paris Olympics in August. Independent pair Sze Fei-Izzuddin won the Japan Open, China Open and Arctic Open, making them the most successful Malaysian shuttlers on the World Tour.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin will meet Indonesian giant-killers Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Moh Reza Pahlevi, who upset world No. 1 Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang of China 21-10, 21-16, in the quarter-finals. Pearly-Thinaah blew hot and cold but did enough to battle their way into the quarter-finals. The world No. 6 struggled with consistency as they overcame Japan's Arisa Igarashi-Ayako Sakuramoto 21-18, 18-21, 21-13 in 52 minutes.
The effect of a long and gruelling season was evident and the Malaysians were lucky to survive. Pearly-Thinaah have been playing non-stop since the Paris Olympics in August, featuring in nine tournaments over the last four months.
They could have wrapped it up in straight games after leading 15-8 in the second game but Thinaah said they started losing their momentum after the Japanese managed to reduce the deficit.
"In the second game, we started following the opponents' rhythm. Despite having a good lead, we lost our direction a little bit once they started chasing," said Thinaah. "In the third game, we reminded ourselves to focus on every rally and every point."
Pearly said that Igarashi-Sakuramoto have a different style of play compared to other Japanese combinations who opt for long rallies. Thinaah also mentioned the need to recover fast to face China's Sheng Shu-Tan Ning who have a 5-3 advantage in head-to-head record.
Rising stars Pang Ron-Su Yin made headlines by toppling world No. 3 Jiang Zhen Bang-Wei Ya Xin 16-21, 21-14 , 21-19 to reach the last eight. Tang Jie-Ee Wei also did well to come from behind for a 14-21, 23-21, 21-8 win over France's world No. 17 Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue.