Malaysia Masters: Rising Youngsters Stay Grounded
Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang refused to get ahead of themselves despite their recent impressive results, including today’s takedown of world champions Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi at the PERODUA Malaysia Masters 2022.
· PREM KUMAR
The new pair, both 21 and only three tournaments old, marched into their second semifinal in a month after a hard-fought 21-14 18-21 21-18 win over the second seeds who won the PETRONAS Malaysia Open 2022 five days ago.
Playing down their victory, Liang said: “We are a new pair and of unknown quantity so that worked to our advantage. They were probably tired too after a long week, so luck was on our side. Still, it’s a great result for our partnership. We feel overwhelmed.”
Since debuting their partnership at the Thailand Open in May, Liang and Wang have beaten a few top pairs, including Tokyo 2020 bronze medallists Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik and world No.1s Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo. At the Indonesia Masters last month, the world No.198 duo finished runners-up to Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto.