All four of Malaysia’s pairs in action on the opening day of the DAIHATSU Japan Open 2023 won their matches, with the surprise package being Chan Peng Soon/Cheah Yee See.
World No.42 Chan/Cheah, who’ve won just one match in their last five tournaments, sent eighth seeds Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue packing. The Malaysians wrapped up the match against the recent European Games runners-up in 48 minutes, 21-18 21-18.
European Games winners Robin Tabeling/Selena Piek didn’t fare much better either, as they crashed out to young Malaysians Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei 21-15 21-18.
Another impressive win came from Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan in women’s doubles as they edged fast-rising Chinese duo and recent US Open champions Liu Sheng Shu/Tan Ning 21-11 9-21 21-19.
And with Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi taking their second round spot beating Ronan Labar/Lucas Corvee in straight games, Malaysia enjoyed the best of starts at the HSBC BWF World Tour Super 750 tournament.
Highlights
Nozomi Okuhara, champion here in 2015, lasted just 37 minutes against Kim Ga Eun, 21-14 21-10.
Men’s singles saw some high-profile opening round contests. In the battle between HS Prannoy and Li Shi Feng, Malaysian Masters champion Prannoy outplayed the All England champion 21-17 21-13.
Another high-profile opener saw Kidambi Srikanth getting the better of Chou Tien Chen, 21-13 21-13.