The Star Online : 9 January 2009

AFTER a stroll in the park in two matches, Malaysia’s Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong and Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty will feel the heat in the quarter-finals today.

In the second round yesterday, Kien Keat-Boon Heong cruised to a 21-17, 21-10 win over compatriots Mohd Razif Abdul Latif-Chan Peng Soon. They will take on All-England champions Lee Yong-dae-Jung Jae-sung of South Korea today for a place in the men’s doubles semi-finals.

Despite the easy runs into the quarter-finals, Boon Heong felt that they have yet to get into the right rhythm.

“Kien Keat and I are still trying to gain momentum. It is not easy in this stadium because the condition is quite windy.

“This match (against the Koreans) will be a very tough one. But if we can play like we did in Sabah, we should be able to do well against them,” he said.

In the recent Super Series Masters Finals in Kota Kinabalu, Kien Keat-Boon Heong beat the Koreans en route to winning the title. The duo are seeking to regain the Malaysian Open title they won in 2007.

The back-up elite pair of Hoon Thien How-Lim Khim Wah failed to advance, crashing to a 17-21, 18-21 defeat by Indonesia’s Olympic champions Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan.

Indonesia showed their prowess in the men’s doubles, claiming two other spots in the quarter-final through seasoned campaigners Candra Wijaya-Luluk Hadiyanto and Alven Yulianto-Hendra Gunawan.

In the women’s doubles, Eei Hui-Pei Tty will get a chance to score a first when they take on China’s two-time world champions Zhang Jiewen-Yang Wei today.

Yesterday, they got a good workout against the Bulgaria-Denmark pair of Petya Nedelcheva-Mie Schjoett-Kristensen, winning the match 21-19, 21-13.

Pei Tty said that they would gun for another breakthrough result in their career.

“We took a game off Jiewen and Yang Wei in the Thailand Open last year. That was our best results against them,” she said.

“It will be a challenge for us to beat them. They have Olympic and world titles to their names and we have not beaten a pair of such reputation before. It’s time for us to achieve this.”

In the mixed doubles, Malaysia have two pairs in the quarter-finals — Eei Hui-Thien How and Kien Keat-Ng Hui Lin.

Eei Hui-Thien How will take on Olympic champions Yong-dae-Lee Hyo-jung while Kien Keat-Hui Lin will be up against Danes Joachim Fisher Nielsen-Christinna Pedersen.

It could have been three pairs in the fray for Malaysia but for the exit of Razif-Woon Khe Wei. They put up a good fight against the experienced Thailand pair of Sudket Prapakamol-T. Saralee but it was not good enough to win the match, going down 21-19, 19-21, 19-21

* Malaysian unless stated

Men’s singles: Simon Santoso (Ina) bt Mohd Hafiz Hashim 21-5, 21-10; Liew Daren bt Hsueh Hsuan-yi (Tpe) 21-14, 21-12; Park Sung-hwan (Kor) bt Kuan Beng Hong 21-23, 21-17, 15-3 rtd; Hsieh Yu-hsin (Tpe) bt Wacha Przemyslaw (Pol) 6-21, 21-10, 21-12; Peter Gade-Christensen (Den) bt Chetan Anand (Ind) 21-7, 21-8; Lee Chong Wei bt Nguyen Tien Minh (Vie) 21-9, 18-21, 21-7; Chan Yan Kit (Hkg) bt Dicky Palyama (Ned) 21-10, 21-17; Sony Dwi Kuncoro (Ina) bt Anup Sridhar (Ind) 21-12, 21-18.

Men’s doubles: Luluk Hadiyanto-Candra Wijaya (Ina) bt Gan Teik Chai-Tan Bin Shen 21-13, 21-11; Cho Gun-woo-Yoo Yeon-seong (Kor) bt Kenichi Hayakawan-Kenta Kazuno (Jpn) 21-18, 21-15; Anthony Clark-Nathan Robertson (Eng) bt Fang Chien-min-Lee Sheng-mu (Tpe) 21-18, 21-16; Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen (Den) bt Ko Sung-hyun-Kwon Yi-goo (Kor) 21-18, 21-9;

Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan (Ina) bt Hoon Thien How-Lim Khim Wah 21-17, 21-18; Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong bt Mohd Razif Abdul Latif-Chan Peng Soon 21-17, 21-10; Lee Yong-dae-Jung Jae-sung (Kor) bt Han Sang-hoon-Hwang Ji-man (Kor) 21-15, 21-17; Alven Yulianto-Hendra Gunawan (Ina) bt Michal Logosz-Robert Mateusiak (Pol) 21-13, 14-21, 21-8

Women’s singles: Julia Wong bt Petya Nedelcheva (Bul) 19-21, 21-16, 21-10; Pi Hongyan (Fra) bt Adrianti Fridasari-21-17, 21-18; Saina Nehwal (Ind) bt Chen Hsiao-huan (Tpe) 21-16, 19-21, 21-19; Lydia Cheah bt Yip Pui Yin (Hkg) 21-15, 21-17; Zhou Mi (Hkg) bt Salakjit Ponsana (Tha) 21-13, 17-21, 21-6; Wang Chen (Hkg) bt Eriko Hirose (Jpn) 21-15, 21-11; Zhang Beiwen (Chn) bt Pia Zebadiah Bernadet (Ina) 21-8, 21-14; Tine Rasmussen (Den) bt Hwang Hye-youn (Kor) 21-15, 20-22, 21-19.

Women’s doubles: Yang Wei-Zhang Jiewen (Chn) bt Frances Liu-Vanessa Neo (Sin) 21-13, 21-8; Shendy Puspa Irawati-Meiliana Jauhari (Ina) bt Sabrina Chong-Woon Khe Wei 21-13, 18-21, 21-18; Cheng Wen-hsing-Chien Yu-chien (Tpe) bt Nairul Suhada Abdul Latif- Amelia Anscelly 15-21, 21-16, 21-9; Gao Ling-Wei Yili (Chn) bt Shinta Mulia Sari-Yao Lei (Sin) 21-17, 21-11;

Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty (Mas) bt Petya Nedelcheva-Mie Schjoett-Kristensen (Bul-Den) 21-19, 21-13; Vita Marissa-Lilyana Natsir (Ina) bt Goh Liu Ying-Ng Hui Lin 21-14, 18-21, 21-15; Ha Jung-eun-Kim Min-jung (Kor) bt Helle Nielsen-Marie Roepke (Den) 21-11, 21-9; Lee Hyo-jung-Lee Kyung-won (Kor) bt Chang Li-ying-Chou Chia-chi (Tpe) 21-18, 21-14.

Mixed doubles: Nova Widianto-Lilyana Natsir (Ina) bt Devin Lahardi Fitriawan-Lita Nurlita (Ina) 21-17, 21-16; Chen Hung-ling-Chou Chia-chi (Tpe) bt Rasmus Bonde-Helle Nielsen (Den) 21-19, 26-24; Koo Kien Keat-Ng Hui Lin bt V. Diju-Jwala Gutta (Ind) 21-18, 21-14; Jaochim Fischer Nielsen-Christinna Pedersen (Den) bt Mohd Rijal-Vita Marissa (Ina) 21-14, 18-21, 21-18;

Yohan Hadikusumo Wiratama-Chai Hoi Wah (Hkg) bt A. Songphon-V. Kunchala (Tha) 19-21, 21-16, 21-19; Hoon Thein How-Chin Eei Hui bt Robert Blair-Imogen Bankier (Eng-Sco) 21-16, 21-18; Lee Yong-dae-Lee Hyo-jung (Kor) bt Lim Khim Wah-Wong Pei Tty 21-11, 21-13; Sudket Prapakamol-T. Saralee (Tha) bt Mohd Razif Abdul Latif-Woon Khe Wei 21-19, 19-21, 21-19.

* From 6.30pm today

Men’s singles: Chong Wei vs Simon; Gade-Christensen vs Daren; Sung-hwan vs Yan Kit; Hsin-yu vs Sony.

Men’s doubles: Markis-Hendra vs Candra-Luluk; Clark-Robertson vs Passke-Rasmussen; Kien Keat-Boon Heong vs Yong-dae-Jae-sung; Gun-woo-Yeon-Seong vs Alven-Hendra.

Women’s singles: Zhou Mi vs Julia; Hongyan vs Saina; Lydia vs Wang Chen; Beiwen vs Rasmussen.

Women’s doubles: Eei Hui-Pei Tty vs Zhang Jiewen-Yang Wei; Vita-Lilyana vs Shendy-Meiliana; Jung-eun-Min-jung vs Hyo-jung-Kyung-won; Gao Ling-Wei Yili vs Wen-hsing-Chin-yu.

Mixed doubles: Nova-Lilyana vs Hung-ling-Chia-chi; Kien Keat-Hui Lin vs Nielsen-Pedersen; Yohan-Hoi Wah vs Sudket-Saralee; Thien How-Eei Hui vs Yong-dae-Hyo-jung.