China Open: Kim/Seo’s Dreams Dashed
Scratch combination Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri thwarted a record-in-the-making with a surprising straight-games defeat of world No.1 Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae.
· DEV SUKUMAR
The Koreans were on track to become the first players to win all four Super 1000 titles in the season, having won the Malaysia Open, All England and Indonesia Open. However, their dreams ran aground against Alfian and Fikri, who paired up for the first time at last week’s DAIHATSU Japan Open.
The Indonesians stayed sharp at the end of a close first game and then kept control in the second, finishing the match comfortably ahead at 21-19 21-14.
“This No.1 pair is extraordinary; I lost to them at the Indonesia Open with Rian (Ardianto) so I wanted to try again even though I'm with an impromptu partner,” said Alfian. “I'm satisfied with the performance this time. We could keep up and our rotation was very good.”