Wong Ling Ching. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Women’s singles shuttler Wong Ling Ching continued her steady rise after stunning third seed Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand in the German Open on Thursday (Feb 26).
In the second round match at the Westenergie Sporthalle in Mulheim, world No. 41 Ling Ching delivered an impressive display to defeat the world No. 8 in straight games 21-14, 21-19 in 38 minutes.
The victory also avenged her defeat to Chochuwong when they first met in the Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu two years ago.
Awaiting Ling Ching in the quarter-finals will be the winner of the match between Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min and China’s Han Qianxi.
Meanwhile, men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik suffered a shock exit in the second round of the German Open after going down to world No. 89 Julien Maio-William Villeger of France.
The top seeds and former world champions were tipped to advance to the quarter-finals, having beaten the French pair at the Thailand Open last year.
However, it was a different story this time as Aaron and Wooi Yik struggled to contain Maio-Villeger, eventually falling 15-21, 22-24 in 41 minutes.
Aaron-Wooi Yik will have a chance to bounce back when they compete in the All-England in Birmingham next week.
Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani made it to the quarter-finals after beating compatriots Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi 21-18, 21-14 in an all-Malaysia second round match on Friday.
The pros will next face Chu Hsiang-chieh-Wang Chi-lin of Taiwan in the quarter-finals.
It was over for Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King after losing 19-21, 21-8, 18-21 to Lee Fang-chih-Lee Fang-jen of Taiwan.
In the mixed doubles, Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie will play against Singapore and Indonesian combination of Terry Hee-Gloria Emmanuelle for a place in the semi-finals.
