INDEPENDENT shuttler Soong Joo Ven has found himself in a very peculiar situation after reaching the men's singles main draw at the Indonesia Masters yesterday.
This is because Joo Ven, 27, will also be playing in the mixed doubles event with 2016 Olympics silver medallist Goh Liu Ying.
Joo Ven, a singles shuttler, did well when he won his qualifying round matches against India's Kartikey Gulshan Kumar (21-16, 9-21, 21-14) and Azerbaijan's Ade Resky Dwicahyo (21-15, 21-11).
He will take on world No 4 Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan in the first round today.
In the mixed doubles first round, Joo Ven-Liu Ying will take on BA of Malaysia's (BAM) Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See.
"It's very tiring to play two matches in a day, but I'm looking forward to the challenge.
"I will focus on both the men's singles and mixed doubles tomorrow.
"I can say that I may not have to run a lot in the mixed doubles event, but more when I'm playing singles. The strokes are different too," said the Kuala Lumpur Racquet Club (KLRC) shuttler.
Meanwhile, mixed doubles Choong Hon Jian-Peck Yen Wei reached the first round after notching a 22-20, 21-18 win over France's William Villeger-Anne Tran.
The newly formed pair will take on Denmark's Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje today.
In the men's doubles, Tan Kian Meng-Tan Wee Kiong defeated Indonesia's Berry Angriawan-Rian Agung Saputro 21-10, 21-11 to set up a first-round date with compatriots and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik.
It was, however, the end of the road for Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Haikal Nazri, who failed to clear the qualifying round after losing 21-15, 21-16 to China's Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang.