Singapore's Terry Hee, Loh Kean Hean shock Malaysian bronze medallists at World C'ships
Singapore's Terry Hee and Loh Kean Hean stunned reigning bronze medallists - Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi of Malaysia - in the second round of the badminton World Championships on Wednesday (Aug 24).
Producing a stirring defensive display against their 10th-ranked opponents, the 41st-ranked Singaporeans won 22-20, 22-20 to advance to the round of 16.
They will meet Denmark's world No. 8 Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen or India's 35th-ranked M. R. Arjun and Dhruv Kapila on Thursday.
Wednesday's result continues Hee and Loh's fine run in the event. In the first round, they also upset 27th-ranked French brothers Christo and Toma Junior Popov.
Against the Malaysians, who beat them in their only previous encounter at the 2017 SEA Games, Hee and Loh did well to keep the scores close. And even when their more illustrious opponents threatened to run away with the first game at 18-14, and held a game point, they kept their nerve to pinch the opener.
The second game followed in a similar vein as Ong and Teo raced to a 13-8 lead, only for the Singaporeans to claw their way back with some outstanding defence and intelligent shot placements and seal the surprise win on their second match point.
There were more good news for the Singapore camp as its 80th-ranked women's pair, Jin Yujia and Crystal Wong, also progressed to the last 16 after their opponents, three-time silver medallists Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota of Japan, withdrew. The Japanese are ranked No. 2 in the world.
They will meet Chinese world No. 13s Zhang Shu Xian and Zheng Yu or Scotland's 46th-ranked Julie MacPherson and Ciara Torrance.
Other Singaporeans who will feature in the second round on Wednesday are defending men's singles champion Loh Kean Yew, who plays Tokyo 2020 semi-finalist Kevin Cordon of Guatemala.
Hee will return to the court later in the day with his wife Jessica Tan to play against Japan's Yuki Kaneko and Misaki Matutomo in the mixed doubles.
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