Fired up by home crowd, fever-hit Aaron Tai battles through to main draw at Malaysia Masters
KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 — Aaron Tai, who was down with a fever, used the vociferous support of the home crowd to re-energise himself as he and Kang Khai Xing cleared their men's doubles qualifying round match to march into the main draw of the 2025 Malaysia Masters Badminton Championships at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil here today.
Aaron, 18, attributed the home crowd support for spurring them to a 21-17, 21-17 win over compatriots Bryan Jeremy Goonting-Muhammad Fazriq Mohamad Razif in a 34-minute battle in the qualifying round.
'I started feeling unwell last night but I never thought of pulling out. Yes, I felt weak when I got onto the court but, when I heard the crowd cheering us, I felt refreshed and re-energised,' he told reporters.
Looking ahead to their first-round clash against William Kryger Boe-Christian Faust Kjaer, Khai Xing said they will discuss with the coaches to come up with a game plan against the Danes, who emerged as runners-up in last week's Thailand Open.
The Danes had earlier brushed aside Malaysia's Chia Wei Jie-Lwi Sheng Hao 21-9, 21-16 in the qualifying round.
'We are still not performing consistently. We are still trying to get our rhythm. It's not something that can be achieved immediately, but we will strive to achieve consistency,' said Khai Xing.
Meanwhile, national mixed doubles pair Too Ming Yap-Lee Yu Shan defeated India's Mohit Jaglan-Lakshita Janglan 21-15, 21-16 to set up a first-round clash against Thailand's Ratchapol Makkasasithorn-Nattamon Laisuan.
However, national singles shuttlers Kok Jin Hong, Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin and Tan Jia Jie's journey in the Malaysia Masters ended in the qualifying round.
Jin Hong lost 20-22, 11-21 to China's Hu Zhe An, Aidil Sholeh went down 21-8, 17-21, 18-21 to Taiwan's Huang Yu Khai while Jia Jie fell 17-21, 8-21 to Vietnam's Nguyen Hai Dang. — Bernama
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