KUALA LUMPUR: Defending champions Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun lived dangerously at the Indonesia Masters in Jakarta on Thursday before booking a quarter-final revenge match against SEA Games champions Sabar Karyaman-Moh Reza Isfahani.
World No. 6 Wei Chong-Kai Wun recovered after dropping the second game against India’s world No. 46 Hariharan Amsakarunan-M.R. Arjun to notch a 21-17, 9-21, 21-16 win in a 54-minute last-16 clash at the Istora Senayan.
It will be their third consecutive quarter-final appearance on the World Tour, and an opportunity to avenge their Thailand SEA Games defeat to Indonesian world No. 7 Sabar-Reza on Friday.
Sabar-Reza overcame Wei Chong-Kai Wun in the semi-finals and later world No. 2 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik in the SEA Games final in Bangkok last month.
It will be a tough battle as Wei Chong-Kai Wun trail 5-1 in the head-to-head record, and Sabar-Reza are proven performers at the Istora Senayan.
It will also be an interesting battle between coaches, as Sabar-Reza’s current mentor Hendra Setiawan is a former protege of Malaysian men’s doubles head coach Herry IP.
Sabar-Reza had also defeated Wei Chong-Kai Wun at the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou less than a week after the SEA Games, and the Malaysians will have every reason to seek revenge.
The local favourites defeated 27th-ranked Malaysian independent pair Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong 19-21, 21-16, 21-17 in a 56-minute last-16 clash on Thursday.
There was another Malaysian interest in the Super 500 event when the Malaysian-South Korean combination of
Goh V Shem-Choi Sol Gyu also made it to the last eight.
World No. 41 V Shem-Sol Gyu used their experience to outwit China‘s world No. 88 Hu Ke Yuan-Lin Xiang Yi 25-23, 23-21 in 46 minutes.
They will next take on Danish giantkillers and world No. 28 Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard, who upset world No. 2 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik in the first round.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
