KUALA LUMPUR: On a rare occasion, two Malaysian women's singles shuttlers advanced to the last 16 in a Super 300 tournament as K. Letshanaa and Wong Ling Ching cleared their opening hurdles at the Syed Modi India International on Wednesday.
World No. 70 Letshanaa defeated Tiffany Ho of Australia 21-16, 21-13, while world No. 83 Ling Ching ousted American Srivedya Gurazada 21-9, 21-15.
Between the two, Ling Ching, the recent Malaysia International Challenge runner-up, appears to have a better chance of reaching the quarter-finals as she takes on world No. 144 A. Janani of India next.
Letshanaa faces a tough challenge against world No. 21 Line Kjaersfeldt of Denmark.
Independent shuttler S. Kisona's campaign ended early after she went down fighting 24-22, 21-13 to third seeded Japanese Aya Ohori.
In the men's singles, Soong Joo Ven advanced to the second round with a 21-14, 21-15 win over India's Meiraba Maisnam, but it was the end of the road for Indonesia International Challenge champion Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin after losing to Indonesia's Alwi Farhan 21-17, 21-12.
In the men's doubles, Choong Hon Jian-Haikal Nazri dug deep into their reserves before fending off world No. 133 Tori Aizawa-Yuto Noda 22-20, 15-21, 21-13.
However, professional pair Low Hang Yee-Ng Eng Cheong bit the dust, 21-18, 21-19, against Taiwan's Chiang Chien Wei-Wu Hsuan Yi.