KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 — National singles ace Ng Tze Yong overcame his first hurdle at the 2023 Singapore Open today by beating Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen 21-17, 18-21, 21-15 in a three-set thriller that lasted more than an hour at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Tze Yong who had to sweat it out against his unknown opponent for 82 minutes, will next face Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn, the seventh seed in the tournament, who had to dig deep into his reserves to overcome Taiwan’s Wang Tzu Wei 21-15, 14-21, 28-26 in another three-set thriller.
Also marching into the second round were professional mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai who defeated Indonesia’s Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto-Lisa Ayu Kusumawati, ranked 10th in the world.
Soon Huat-Shevon, ranked number 17th in the world, lost the first set 15-21 but came back strongly to win the second set 21-18 and force the match into a decider that they eventually won 21-14.
Waiting for them in the second round tomorrow will be Hong Kong pair Lee Chun Hei Reginald-Ng Tsz Yau who also had to go the distance before overcoming Scotland’s Adam Hall-Julie Macpherson 21-14, 17-21 and 21-11.
Meanwhile, another mixed doubles pair from the country Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing failed to get past their opponents from South Korea, losing 12-21, 21-14 and 10-21 in another match that went the distance. — Bernama
