Danish champions flex their muscles
KUALA LUMPUR: Defending Malaysia Masters men's doubles champions Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark advanced to the second round with a straight-games win over China's world No. 29 Xie Hao Nan-Zeng Wei Han today.
The world No. 1 defeated the Chinese duo 21-10, 21-17 in just 35 minutes at Axiata Arena.
Last year, Astrup- Rasmussen captured three other crowns — the World Tour Finals, Canada Open, and European Championships.
However, the current season has seen them suffer a rocky start, with three early exits. Their best result so far was a quarter-final finish at the European Championships.
Rasmussen said:
"We played at what I'd call our level against Hao Nan-Wei Han.
"Our focus was good, and we stuck to our game plan and tried to control the match on our terms — that's always our goal.
Astrup-Rasmussen will face Malaysia's world No. 39 Low Hang Yee-Ng Eng Cheong in the second round.
Earlier, Hang Yee-Eng Cheong beat Taiwan's world No. 70 Chiang Chien Wei-Wu Hsuan Yi 21-14, 21-16.
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