Independent shuttlers march into third round of Vietnam Open

KUALA LUMPUR: The independent shuttlers have stolen a march on the national men’s singles players at the Vietnam Open.

Chong Wei Feng, Liew Daren and Goh Giap Chin all cleared their second-round matches in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday.

Fifth seed Wei Feng showed flashes of his past brilliance to beat Taiwan’s Lu Chia-hung 21-18, 21-8 while newly-wed Giap Chin thumped Japan’s Hashiru Shimono 21-16, 21-15.

Daren, the 2012 French Open winner, was on song as he got past Indian N.V.S. Vijetha 21-17, 21-14.

Chong Yee Han, the only Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) shuttler left in the fray, crashed out after losing 19-21, 7-21 to Indonesian Shesar Hiren Rhustavito.

There were better fortunes for the national shuttlers in the mixed doubles with fifth seeds Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See getting off to a flying start.

The world No. 80, who bagged a bronze at the recent Kuala Lumpur SEA Games, easily defeated Taiwan’s Liu Wei-chen-Cheng Yu-chieh 21-9, 21-14 in the first round.

They will meet Hiroke Okamura-Naru Shinoya in the second round.

“We’re feeling more motivated since the SEA Games and we hope to keep our form going,” said Peng Soon.

Two other pairs – Hoo Pang Ron-Peck Yen Wei and Chen Tang Jie-Tew Jia Jia – also made the second round.

In the men’s doubles, top seeds Chooi Kah Ming-Low Juan Shen also started strongly by beating Inkarat Apisuk-Tanupat Viriyangkura of Thailand 21-17, 21-18.

Top seeds Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean were also in merciless mood, thrashing Sanyogita Ghorpade-Prajakta Sawant of India 21-10, 21-14 in the women’s doubles.