Syed Modi International: Unheralded Malaysians in Title Round
World No.93 pair Choong Hon Jian and Muhammad Haikal created a sensation at the Syed Modi India International 2023 beating second seeds Ben Lane and Sean Vendy for the biggest result of their career so far.
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The Malaysians haven’t played as a pair at an HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300 or above event before this; they only got together in August, at the XPORA Indonesia International Challenge and made the quarterfinals. In October they were runners-up at the BNI Indonesia Masters II 2023 after which they made another quarterfinals, at the PETRONAS Malaysia International Challenge.
On Saturday, they led from start to finish against Lane and Vendy. After a comfortable opening game for the Malaysians, the English pair did throw up a harder challenge in the second, but Choong and Haikal never relinquished the lead and finished victorious in 39 minutes, 21-12 21-19.
Japan dominated semifinal proceedings, but they also suffered a blow with Sayaka Hirota retiring with injury. World No.5 duo Hirota and Yuki Fukushima were 11-9 up against local pair Ashwini Ponnappa/Tanisha Crasto when Hirota collapsed to the floor during a rally. A medical update is awaited.