UPSETS GALORE

Day Two of the Malaysian Open saw a string of upsets, mostly involving Malaysians in the morning session at the Putra Stadium.

With the scoreboard at the centre court yet to be fixed as seen above, not to mention the difficulty to sit on the seat that you paid for, it was a good morning session as so far as the Malaysian players were concerned.

Mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying defeated fifth seeds Chen Hung Ling/Cheng Wen Hsing of Taiwan 21-17,12-21,24-22 to book a place in the second round. 

It was a splendid display by the Malaysian pair who played magnificently and will surely be boosted by this win and make further progress in the tournament.

They will surely fancy their chances against India's V. Diju/Jwala Gutta who were taken to the wire by Singapore's Chayut Triachart/Yao Lei before prevailing 21-13,19-21,21-16.

But the biggest cheer occurred at 1.00pm as unheralded Tee Jing Yee defeated Thailand's Portip Buranaprasertsuk 16-21,25-23,21-10 to book her spot in the second round.

Jing Yee, who had to come through the qualifiers will take on Germany's Juliane Schenk who is the eight seed in the second round match tomorrow.

Ironically both the Malaysian upset wins were achieved in 46 minutes, looks like the spirit of 46 (pun intended) still strives in Malaysian hearts.

Also sent packing were Thailand's Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thoungthongkam, the sixth seeds in the mixed doubles event. They were defeated by Russian pair of Alexander Nikolaenko/Valeri Sorokina 21-18,21-19.

Meanwhile KLRC suffered mixed fortunes as Petya Nedelcheva of Bulgaria was defeated by China's Liu Xin 21-9,21-18.

However Pi Hongyan of France sailed easily into the second round, disposing off the challenge from Japan's Saka Satayo 21-13,21-13.