Malaysia's New Men's Doubles Pairings Pass First Test At Thailand Open

BANGKOK, May 12 (Bernama) -- Newly-formed Malaysian men’s doubles pair Mohd Haikal Nazri-Bryan Jeremy Goonting and the new independent combination of Chia Wei Jie-Teo Ee Yi began their partnerships on a winning note after cruising into the second round of the 2026 Thailand Open at Nimibutr Stadium today.

Haikal-Bryan defeated world number 62 Hung Kuei Chun-Lui Chun Wai of Hong Kong 22-20, 21-13, while Chia-Teo upset eighth seeds Mohammad Rian Ardianto-Rahmat Hidayat of Indonesia 20-22, 21-19, 21-11.

Haikal-Bryan will next face top seeds and world number four Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty of India, who defeated Indonesia’s Muh Putra Erwiansyah-Bagas Maulana 21-19, 21-23, 21-10 earlier today.

Teo, the 2021 World Championships bronze medallist, said the victory was an important first step for the new pairing and would boost their confidence ahead of the next match.

“As a new pair on court, we are happy with the win today, but there is still a lot to learn, especially in terms of movement and understanding,” he told Bernama after the match, while Chia said that he was not pressured by the partnership, but instead motivated him to improve further.

“I do not know how far we can go, but we will work hard and go as far as we can to achieve success,” he said.

Chia-Teo will next face either Scotland’s Christopher Grimley-Matthew Grimley or Vietnam’s Nguyen Dinh Hoang-Tran Dinh Manh, who meet tomorrow.

Veteran Malaysian men’s doubles pair Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong also advanced to the second round after beating Scotland’s Alexander Dunn-Adam Pringle 21-11, 21-15, and will face home pair Peeratchai Sukphun-Pakkapon Teeraratsakul who earlier defeated French pair of Julien Maio-William Villeger 22-20, 21-16.

However, luck was not on the side of independent men’s doubles pair Low Hang Yee-Ng Eng Cheong, who lost 9-21, 14-21 to world number 33 Chinese pair Hu Ke Yuan-Lin Xiang Yi.

Meanwhile, men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia cruised into the main draw after defeating Liao Jhuo-Fu of Chinese Taipei 21-16, 21-13 in the qualifying round earlier today.

Zii Jia will face Israel’s Daniil Dubovenko tomorrow for a place in the second round.

Two Malaysian women’s doubles pairs, Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting and Chong Jie Yu-Vanessa Ng crashed out in the opening round.

World number 20 Ong-Carmen lost to Indonesia’s Isyana Syahira Meida-Rinjani Kwinara Nastine 21-16, 14-21, 14-21 in a battle lasting more than an hour, while Chong-Vanessa fell 16-21, 17-21 to Japan’s Hinata Suzuki-Nao Yamakita.

-- BERNAMA