KUALA LUMPUR: Three mixed doubles pairs and woman singles shuttler K. Letshanaa made it a memorable opening day for Malaysia in the 2025 Indonesia Masters in Jakarta today.
Top seeds Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei checked into the second round of the mixed doubles event with a 34-minute 21-14, 21-17 demolition of Frenchmen Julien Maio-Lea Palermo in the opening round of the Super 500 tournament at the iconic Istora Senayan.
Next up for Tang Jie-Ee Wei are home pair Jafar Hidayatullah-Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu, who ousted Taiwan’s Lu Ming Che-Hung En-Tzu 21-19, 22-20.
Meanwhile, second seeds and professional pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie also lived up to expectations in mixed doubles when they disposed of Indonesia’s Dejan Fernandisyah-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti 21-16, 21-15.
Soon Huat-Shevon will have to contend with Marwan Faza-Aisyah Salsabila Putri Pranata in the second round after the Indonesian pair prevailed 19-21, 21-16, 21-13 in a tense opening tie against Germany’s Jones Ralfy Jansen-Thuc Phuong Nguyen.
There was more cheer for Malaysia when another national mixed doubles pair, Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin, prevailed 21-14, 21-17 against Hong Kong’s Liu Chun Wai-Fu Chi Yan.
Pang Ron-Su Yin will take on Dhruv Kapila-Tanisha Crasto tomorrow after the Indian duo got the better of home pair Adnan Maulana-Indah Cahaya Sari Jamil 21-18, 21-14.
However, Malaysian professional mixed doubles duo Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sen went down 13-21, 15-21 to Japans Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito.
Malaysia’s interest in men’s singles also came to an end after their sole representative, Leong Jun Hao, suffered a second straight early exit in a week at the hands of the same player.
Jun Hao lost 14-21, 13-21 to Weng Hong Yang today, having gone down 18-21, 12-21 to the China player in the second round of the India Open last week.
Meanwhile, world number 59 K. Letshanaa stunned world number 51 Polina Buhrova of Ukraine 21-23, 21-15, 21-19 in the first round of the women’s singles event.
The 21-year-old’s second-round opponent will be either 2019 world champion Pusarla V. Sindhu of India or Vietnam’s Nguyen Thuy Linh.
But there was no such luck for Malaysia’s other woman singles ace Goh Jin Wei after the professional shuttler went down 14-21, 21-19, 14-21 to Taiwan’s Hsu Wen Chi in 46 minutes.