Slew of Upsets – Malaysia Masters: Day 3
It was a nightmarish day for seeds at the PERODUA Malaysia Masters 2020 today, with several high-profile casualties – the most prominent of whom were Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan, Chou Tien Chen and Ratchanok Intanon.
· DEV SUKUMAR
Chen and Jia, who had an outstanding season last year which they closed with the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals trophy in December, crashed out in the very first match, unable to come to terms with Japan’s Nami Matsuyama/Chiharu Shida. Both Chen and Jia looked out of sorts as they went down 21-15 21-12.
“Today is our first meeting with them,” said Jia, whose left thigh was heavily strapped, but denied that had anything to do with the loss. “They are young and aggressive. We are not familiar with their style. Like other players, we too were tired at the end of the season, and we haven’t found our form yet.”
Chen and Jia were joined on the sidelines later in the day by second seeds Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota, who went down after a contentious battle with Li Wen Mei/Zheng Yu 18-21 24-22 21-17.