Malaysian players made a strong impression on the opening day of the Kumamoto Masters Japan 2025, with several impressive wins in both qualifying and Round of 32 matches of the HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament.
In the men’s singles qualifying round, Kok Jing Hong battled hard to secure a comeback victory over Taiwan’s Huang Yu Kai with scores of 16–21, 21–19, 21–15, advancing to the main draw after a spirited performance.
However, in men’s doubles, the seeded pair Man Wei Chong / Tee Kai Wun [3] faced disappointment after falling 0–2 (19–21, 18–21) to Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa / Kyohei Yamashita. Another Malaysian pair, Chia Wei Jie / Lwi Sheng Hao, were also eliminated following a straight-game defeat to Chen Zhi Yi / Presley Smith (20–22, 12–21).
On a brighter note, several Malaysian doubles pairs delivered dominant performances. The seventh-seeded duo Arif Junaidi / Yap Roy King defeated Chang Ko-Chi / Po Li-Wei 2–0 (21–19, 21–12), while Choong Hon Jian / Haikal Nazri triumphed over Japan’s Kazuki Shibata / Naoki Yamada with identical scores of 21–19, 21–16.
In women’s doubles, Ong Xin Yee / Carmen Ting produced a stunning upset by beating the fifth-seeded Taiwanese pair Hsieh Pei Shan / Hung En-Tzu in three thrilling games, 22–20, 18–21, 21–10.
Meanwhile, men’s doubles veterans Ong Yew Sin / Teo Ee Yi continued their winning momentum, easing past Chen Zhi Ray / Lin Yu Chieh with straight sets 21–18, 21–18. Experienced campaigners Azriyn Ayub / Tan Wee Kiong also sealed victory over Lai Po Yu / Tsai Fu Cheng (21–16, 21–14).
The highlight of the day came from the second-seeded pair Goh Sze Fei / Nur Izzuddin, who impressed with a commanding 21–17, 21–13 victory over Korea’s Kang Min Hyuk / Ki Dong Ju, reaffirming their status as one of Malaysia’s most in-form pairs on the World Tour.
Credit Photo : BERNAMA
