KUALA LUMPUR: National men’s singles player Cheam June Wei is confident he will be able to do well at the ongoing National Championships after emerging as runner-up at the Austrian Open last week.
June Wei’s was obviously confident as he successfully overcame his first hurdle by easily beating Mohd Ziyad Md Tahad, 22-20, 21-13 in the first round earlier today at the Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara to advance to the second round of the Championships tomorrow.
“Yes I won my first round match today but in the first game I was slow of the mark and I took some time to aclimatise myself to the conditions on court,” said the 21-year-old player who will face Faiz Rozain tomorrow in the second round.
According to June Wei, he is still feeling the buzz of playing in the Austrian Open final last week which he lost to India’s Kashyap Parupalli.
"It was a very interesting experience for me last week playing in the final of the Austrian Open after celebrating Chinese New Year. This is why I am determined to bring my best game to court not just for the National Championships but for other tournaments as well after this,” he said.
Apart from June Wei, also advancing to the second round is 2015 champion Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin who beat Syahmi Irfan Nadzri 21-11, 21-10, and the World No 55 will face fellow national player Chong Yee Han, who defeated Loo Bing Kun 21-11, 21-19.
Fourth seed Soong Joo Ven did not face any problems as he despatched Atef Haikal Taufik in straight games 21-15, 21-18.
Joo Ven will take on for national shuttler, R. Sathieshtharan who beat Saffuan Nizam Datu Sardik 21-17, 21-10 in his first round match.