Chen Tang Jie and Clarissa San showed marked improvement after their first-round defeat in the Japan Open last week. (BAM pics) PETALING JAYA: Newly paired mixed doubles shuttlers Chen Tang Jie-Clarissa San made a breakthrough in the China Open by defeating Germany’s world No 32 pair Mervin Seidel-Nguyen Thuc Phuong in their opening round match today. After suffering a first-round defeat at the Japan Open last week, Tang Jie-Clarissa showed marked improvement to win 21-17, 21-19 in 36 minutes at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium in Changzhou.
A Herculean task awaits the unranked Malaysians in the last-16 tomorrow when they face China’s world No 2 pair Jiang Zhen Bang-Wei Ya Xin. Tang Jie’s regular partner, Toh Ee Wei, with whom he won the World Championships last year, will be out of action for a few months after undergoing knee surgery. Tang Jie-Clarissa first played together at the Super 750 Japan Open last week, where they were beaten in the opening round by Taiwan’s world No 20 pair, Yang Po Hsuan-Hu Ling Fang.
In a later match, national men’s doubles shuttlers Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani advanced to the second round of the China Open after defeating a Taiwanese pair in three games. Sze Fei-Izzuddin, ranked sixth in the world, survived a scare before defeating world No 33 pair Chen Zhi Ray-Lin Yu Chieh 15-21, 21-15, 21-16 in a match that lasted 51 minutes. The Malaysians, who were eliminated in the opening round last year, will face Danish world No 16 pair Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard in the last 16.
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