KUCHING: Lim Yin Loo-Yap Cheng Wen fought hard but it was not enough to see the Malaysian women's duo through to the second round of the Malaysia Open.
Being the only Malaysian pair to take to court in the opening round on Tuesday, the national No 3 slogged for more than an hour before succumbing to a 21-23, 21-11, 21-17 to Indonesian duo Anggia Shitta Awanda-Ni Ketut Mahadewi Istarani here at the Perpaduan Stadium in Petra Jaya.
Three more Malaysian women's doubles Vivian Hoo Kah Mun-Woon Khe Wei, Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yen and qualifiers Tee Jing Yi-Joyce Choong will feature in the remaining first round fixtures on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, in the qualifying round earlier, former BA of Malaysia (BAM) shuttler Liew Daren, scored two wins against Soo Teck Zhi (21-15, 21-10) and China's Zhao Junpeng (17-21, 21-15, 21-18) to set a date with the Denmark's world No 4 Viktor Axelsen in the men's singles first round.
Daren, who left the national setup last year, has only played the fourth seeded Dane once, where the Malaysian came out tops at the 2012 French Open in Paris.
"Axelsen has definitely improved a lot since the last time I beat him in the final of the French Open five years ago. He won bronze at the Olympics last year but I will give my best and focus on one match at a time," said Daren.
Also through to the main draw are women's singles Lim Yin Fun and mixed doubles duo Hoo Pang Ron-Peck Yen Wei.
Yin Fun, who had received a bye in the first match, was lucky in the second when her Indonesian opponent Jesica Muljati retired due to an injury when she was trailing 21-10, 16-21, 16-11, while Pang Ron-Yen Wei saw off India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-K Maneesha 21-19, 19-21, 21-14 in the first match before chalking up a 21-17, 15-21, 21-18 win over Indonesia's Lukhi Apri Nugroho-Ririn Amelia.