Malaysia’s mixed doubles pair Jimmy Wong-Cheng Su Yin marched into the Japan Open quarter-finals after knocking out France’s sixth seeds Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue in the second round on Thursday (July 16).
Jimmy-Su Yin needed 53 minutes to secure a straight-games win, edging the world No. 7 French pair 23-21, 24-22 to keep their impressive run going at the tournament.
The result mattered not only because it sent the Malaysians into the last eight, but also because it extended a standout week in which they have already claimed multiple high-profile wins against higher-ranked opposition.
Second big upset seals last-eight spot
The victory over Gicquel-Delrue was Jimmy Wong and Cheng Su Yin’s second major scalp of the Japan Open.
In the opening round, they had already upset Japan’s Yuichi Shimogami-Sayaka Hobara, a pair ranked world No. 14, to announce themselves as one of the tournament’s early stories.
Against the French sixth seeds, the Malaysians were pushed deep in both games but held firm in the closing stages to take the match in two tight finishes, 23-21 and 24-22. The narrow margins underlined the intensity of the contest, with both games extending beyond the standard 21-point mark.
With the win, Jimmy-Su Yin moved into the quarter-finals and will now wait to learn their next opponents. They are set to face either South Korea’s Kim Jae-hyeon-Jang Ha-jeong or Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje for a place in the semi-finals.
While Jimmy-Su Yin advanced, it was the end of the road for another Malaysian mixed doubles pair, husband-and-wife duo Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie.
Goh-Shevon were beaten in the second round by China’s second seeds Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin, going down 14-21, 7-21 as the Chinese pair progressed.
Malaysia also saw a men’s singles exit, with Leong Jun Hao bowing out after a three-game defeat to France’s Christo Popov. Leong lost 16-21 in the opening game, responded strongly to take the second 21-11, but was edged in the decider 21-17.
What’s next for the Malaysians at the Japan Open
Jimmy Wong and Cheng Su Yin’s quarter-final berth keeps Malaysia’s challenge alive in the mixed doubles, with a semi-final place on the line against either the South Korean pairing of Kim Jae-hyeon-Jang Ha-jeong or Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje.
Their progress has been built on back-to-back wins over highly ranked opponents, highlighted by the second-round defeat of the world No. 7 French duo and the earlier opening-round upset of the world No. 14 Japanese pair.
For the rest of the Malaysian contingent mentioned, the Japan Open campaign has ended at this stage, with Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie and Leong Jun Hao both exiting after defeats in their respective second-round matches.
