May 13, 2026
World
World
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BANGKOK, May 13 — Newly-formed Malaysian men’s doubles pairs Mohd Haikal Nazri–Bryan Jeremy Goonting and Chia Wei Jie–Teo Ee Yi made winning starts at the 2026 Thailand Open at Nimibutr Stadium yesterday, advancing to the second round.
Haikal–Bryan overcame Hong Kong’s world No. 62 Hung Kuei Chun–Lui Chun Wai 22-20, 21-13, while Chia–Teo pulled off a surprise win over eighth seeds Mohammad Rian Ardianto–Rahmat Hidayat of Indonesia 20-22, 21-19, 21-11.
Haikal–Bryan will next face top seeds and world No. 4 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy–Chirag Shetty of India, who defeated Indonesia’s Muh Putra Erwiansyah–Bagas Maulana 21-19, 21-23, 21-10.
Teo Ee Yi, a 2021 World Championships bronze medallist, said the victory marked an encouraging start for the new partnership and would help build confidence ahead of their next match.
“As a new pair on court, we are happy with the win, but there is still a lot to improve, especially in movement and understanding,” he told Bernama after the match.
His partner Chia Wei Jie said he was not feeling pressure from the new pairing, but instead saw it as motivation to improve further.
“I don’t know how far we can go, but we will work hard and push as far as possible to achieve success,” he said.
Chia–Teo will next meet either Scotland’s Christopher Grimley–Matthew Grimley or Vietnam’s Nguyen Dinh Hoang–Tran Dinh Manh.
Veteran Malaysian pair Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub–Tan Wee Kiong also progressed to the second round after beating Scotland’s Alexander Dunn–Adam Pringle 21-11, 21-15. They will next face Thailand’s Peeratchai Sukphun–Pakkapon Teeraratsakul.
However, independent pair Low Hang Yee–Ng Eng Cheong were eliminated after a 9-21, 14-21 defeat to China’s Hu Ke Yuan–Lin Xiang Yi.
In men’s singles, Lee Zii Jia advanced to the main draw after defeating Liao Jhuo-Fu of Chinese Taipei 21-16, 21-13 in the qualifying round. He will next face Israel’s Daniil Dubovenko.
In women’s doubles, Malaysian pairs Ong Xin Yee–Carmen Ting and Chong Jie Yu–Vanessa Ng exited in the first round after respective defeats to Indonesian and Japanese opponents. — Bernama
