Iskandar leads BAM players into second round

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia enjoyed a good day at the Celcom Axiata Malaysian International Challenge when Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin and eight Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) players marched into the second round of the men’s singles.

Iskandar defeated Naoki Yamazawa of Japan 21-18, 21-12 at the Pasir Gudang Municipal Stadium in Johor Baru yesterday to set up a second-round clash against Indonesia’s Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo.

World No. 63 Iskandar is on a mission to regain his confidence and world ranking.

Iskandar, who was second behind world No. 7 Lee Chong Wei at the start of the year, has dropped to No. 4 in the national ranking, having been pipped by youngsters Lee Zii Jia (world No. 46) and Soong Joo Ven (No. 61).

Zii Jia and Joo Ven continued with their fine form yesterday by clearing their first-round hurdles without much difficulty.

Second seed Zii Jia defeated Yusuke Onodera of Japan 21-18, 21-11 and will meet Datu Mohd Saffuan Nizam Sardik next while Joo Ven will take on Indonesian Firman Abdul Kholik.

The other BAM players through to the second round are two-time national champion Lim Chi Wing, Leong Jun Hao, Soo Teck Zhi, Tan Jia Wei, Cheam June Wei and Chong Yee Han.

Chi Wing should beat Muhd Ziyad Mohd Tah today to reach the third round but World Junior Championships runner- up Jun Hao faces a tough task against top seed Yu Igarashi of Japan.

The only casualty in the BAM camp was Sim Fong Hau, who went down 12-21, 21-19, 15-21 to Lin Chia-shuan of Taiwan.

Two former internationals – Goh Giap Chin and R. Satheishtharan – are also through to the next round.

Giap Chin faces Chia- hsuan while Satheishtharan has a second-round battle against Japan’s Hashiru Shimono.