Yen Mei stuns top seed Kosetskaya in Russian Open

PETALING JAYA: National women’s singles shuttler Ho Yen Mei (pic) created the biggest upset at the Russian Open when she sent defending champion Evgeniya Kosetskaya of Russia packing in the first round.

The 22-year-old stunned top seed Kosetskaya 21-11, 21-14 in just 28 minutes at the Sport Hall Olympic in Vladivostok yesterday.

It was a massive win for the world No. 157 as Kosetskaya, the world No. 27, is also the silver medallist at the European Championships in April.

Yen Mei, who is seeking her second title since winning the Polish Open in 2015, will take on Lianne Tan of Belgium for a place in the quarter-finals.

Teammates Lee Ying Ying, the

second seed, and M. Thinaah also checked into the second round but it was the end of the road for Lim Yin Fun.

Ying Ying’s next opponent is Rituparna Das of India while Thinaah faces fourth seed Yvonne Li of Germany.

In the men’s singles, former inter- national R. Satheishtharan won a three-game thriller 21-9, 16-21, 24-22 against Dmitrii Riabov of Russia to set up a clash with top seed Pablo Abian of Spain in the third round.

Malaysia’s sole representatives in the mixed doubles, Chen Tang JiePeck Yen Wei, are also through to the next stage after clawing back from a game down to tame home pair Rodion Kargaev-Viktoriia Vorobeva 16-21, 21-12, 21-11.