Taiwanese star shuttler Chou Tien-chen (???) advanced into the men’s singles quarterfinals at the Malaysia Masters after overpowering Ng Tze Yong (???) of the host country in straight games on Thursday.
The world No. 4 and fourth-seeded Chou knocked out world No. 48 Ng 21-18, 21-16 in their first ever meeting in 51 minutes at the Super 500 tournament, which carries a total purse of US$360,000 (NT$10.72 million), held at Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur.
Chou will next face world No. 13 and eighth-seed Ng Ka Long Angus (???) from Hong Kong in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Back at the match on Thursday, Chou trailed 15-12 before lifting his level and winning the next six points to pull ahead 18-15, a lead he held onto to take the first game.
In the second game, the scores were tied at 14-14 when Chou won five points in a row to take him to the edge of victory. It then took him two match points to secure his place in the quarter finals.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s world No. 16 Wang Tzu-wei (???) was knocked out of the tournament after a 21-19, 21-16 defeat to H.S. Prannoy of India in Round 2.
Wang was defeated in 44 minutes as Prannoy secured a quarterfinals berth.
Earlier in the day, Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying (???) secured her place in the quarterfinals of the women’s singles after defeating Malaysian Goh Jin Wei (???) 16-21, 21-7, 21-9.
Taiwanese men’s doubles pairing Chang Ko-chi (???) and Po Li-wei (???) also advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Malaysian-pairing Chang Yee Jun (???) and Roy King Yap (???) 14-21, 21-11, 21-10 in 51 minutes.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel