Hopes were high on the duo to live up to their top billing but they went down with a whimper, losing 22-20, 11-21, 8-21 to qualifiers Zhang Nan-Tang Jinhua of China.
This, however, has whetted Liu Ying-Peng Soon’s appetite to make amends and seek redemption at the All-England, which starts in Birmingham next Wednesday.
The duo reached the semi-finals of last year’s All-England and need a similar finish to maintain their top four ranking ahead of the World Championships in Guangzhou in August.
Liu Ying said her below par performances with Peng Soon had nothing to do with her knee problem.
“My knee is fine. Something’s amiss in our game ... we didn’t combine well. It was certainly a poor performance from us. We have to shrug it off and get back on the right track,” said Liu Ying in a telephone interview.
“We were dumped in the first round of the German Open last year too but it spurred us to raise our game in the All-England.”
Malaysia’s second ranked mixed doubles pair of Tan Aik Quan-Lai Pei Jing had crashed out on the opening day, going down 13-21, 16-21 to Fran Kurniawan-Shendy Puspa Irawati of Indonesia.
The third-ranked pair of Ong Jian Guo-Lim Yin Loo did well to make the second round but ran out of steam against eighth seeds Kenichi Hayakawa-Misaki Matsutomo of Japan. The Malaysians lost 18-21, 18-21.
But Liu Ying and Yin Loo’s challenge in Germany is far from over. The duo have made the second round of the women’s doubles where they will take on Bulgaria’s Gabriela Stoeva-Stefan Stoeva.
Pei Jing-Vivian Hoo have also made it to the second round but lost 10-21, 16-21 to second seeds Eom Hye-won-Jang Ye-na of South Korea.
Malaysia’s challenge in the men’s doubles has been reduced to only one pair – Lim Khim Wah-Goh V Shem, who stand a chance to make the top eight but they will have to see off Germans Ingo Kindervater-Johannes Schoettler first.
Courtesy of The Star
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