Major Hiccups in Malaysian Camp

Day 2 of the China Open proceeded with marginally less upsets than day 1, although several major hiccups have emerged.

The most severe hiccup was that of the departure of first seeds and world number 1 Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong in the hands of a relatively unknown Taiwanese pair in two tame sets. It seems that even the first round opponent of the Taiwanese were able to put up a better fight, going down in 3 tight sets. Instead, the hot favorites for the title shockingly went down tamely to this relative unknown. The emerging trend in this pair is that they have no problem in sweeping past known seeded pairs, while relative unknowns seem to trouble them. Lack of respect or psychological weakness, I am sure doubles coach Rexy Manaiky will address this problem. Hopefully he will be successful.

Hafiz Hashim's comeback to the elite club of shuttlers seem to have taken a heavy blow today. With the departure of top seed Lin Dan, Hashim's path to the quarterfinals could not have been any easier. However, Hashim lost to Korean Park Sung Hwan, Lin Dan's conquerer in 3 sets despite leading crucially in the 2nd and 3rd set; not being able to close up the game. With chance number 1 blown, Hashim better hope he performs more convincingly in Hong Kong next week.

Wong Pei Tty and Chin Eei Hui have once again failed to reach the crucial stages of the tournament, falling to China Masters winners Marrisa and Natsir. Although both Indonesian players had to play in the Mixed Doubles field before playing the Malaysians, they still managed to fend off the attack.

However, not all was lost today. Our top Women's Singles shuttler Wong Mew Choo managed to pull off a stunning upset against Frenchwomen Pi Hongyan. Despite dropping the second set, Mew Choo managed to dominate the 3rd game and storm into the quarterfinals where she will meet arch nemesis and reigning world champion Zhu Lin. Lee Chong Wei also continued his run by sweeping past Andrew Smith of England in 23 minutes. In the Men's Doubles department, apart from the shock departure of Koo and Tan, the other 2 pairs made it through. Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah managed to make it through easily, while Fairuzizuan and Zakry, perhaps a little overconfident with their win yesterday over second seeds Cai and Fu, survived a 3 set scare to fend of an unknown Chinese pair attempting to gain revenge for their compatriot's defeat.

All the best to all players.