KUCHING: Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi got their Malaysia Open campaign off to a flying start on Wednesday when they scored an upset over world No 6 Mads Conrad Petersen-Mads Pieler Kolding of Denmark in the first round here in Petra Jaya.
The national No 2 men's badminton doubles, who are hoping to break into the world top 15 this year, however, were forced to slog before notching a 21-19, 16-21, 21-10 win over their Danish opponents.
Waiting in the next round are China's Fu Haifeng-Zheng Siwei.
“I think we are slowly regaining our momentum and confidence on court. In the last two tournaments (All England and Swiss Open), we were shown the exit in the first round; this time around we broke that.
“I think the key here is we have nothing to lose,” said Ee Yi.
Also through to the next round are women's doubles Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean, who saw off Indonesia's Dian Fitriani-Nadya Melati 21-18, 21-14 in the first round.
The Malaysian No 2 have a tall order on their hands as they face fourth-seed Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan of China for a place in the quarter-finals.
It was the end of the road however for national No 1 Vivian Hoo Kah Mun-Woon Khe Wei, who squandered a 20-15 lead in the third game to lose 13-21, 21-17, 28-26 to qualifiers Bao Yixin-Yu Xiaohan, also from China.