Joo Ven upsets second seed for last eight berth

SOONG Joo Ven finally scored an important breakthrough when he reached the quarter-finals of the Thailand Open yesterday.

En route to reaching his maiden GP Gold quarter-finals, Joo Ven, 23, upset second seed Marc Zwiebler of Germany 22-20, 21-9 in the third round at the Nimibutr Stadium in Bangkok.

Joo Ven - a member of the special project squad under national coaches Tey Seu Bock and Hendrawan - wants to turn things around for himself, especially after a disappointing season last year.

The Kuala Lumpur shuttler now hopes to maintain his fine form to make the cut for the Kuala Lumpur Sea Games in August, apart from improving his world ranking (currently No 94).

“Beating Zwiebler is definitely a big deal for me, and finally I get to reach my first ever GP Gold quarter-final.

“Before this, I used to struggle to even reach the round of 16. I have been trying for so long.

“The year 2016 was not a good one for me, I was always battling injuries and somewhere in the middle of the year, I was admitted to hospital in Thailand for dengue.

“I hope this win will change things for me. I want to make the Sea Games squad and break into the world top 60,” said Joo Ven who will face Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu today for a place in the semi-finals.

Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin and independent shuttler Chong Wei Feng, however, were shown the exit by India’s B. Sai Praneeth and Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen respectively in the third round.

In the mixed doubles, Sea Games-bound Goh Soon HuatShevon Lai Jemie continued their impressive run with a 21-11, 18-21, 21-14 win over Indonesia’s Irfan Fadhilah-Weni Anggraini in the second round.

The fifth seeded Malaysians, will play China’s Han ChengkaiChen Lu today in the last eight.

However, women’s doubles Goh Yea Ching-Teoh Mei Xing, Lim Yin Loo-Yap Cheng Wen and women’s singles Ho Yen Mei all crashed out in the second round.