Malaysia’s newly formed mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie and Clarissa Tan booked their place in the second round of the China Open after defeating Germany’s Marvin Seidel and Thuc Phuong Nguyen on Thursday.
Playing at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, the Malaysian duo needed just 37 minutes to secure a straight-games 21-17, 21-19 victory.
The win marks Tang Jie and Clarissa’s first second-round appearance since being paired together, following their first-round exit at last week’s Japan Open.
They now face a daunting challenge against second seeds Jiang Zhen Bang and Chen Fang Hui of China in the second round.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin Mohd Rumsani also progressed after fighting back from a set down to defeat Taiwan’s Chen Zhi Ray and Lin Yu Chieh.
After losing the opening game 15-21, the world No. 7 pair responded strongly to take the second game 21-15 before sealing the match with a 21-16 victory in the decider.
Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin will next take on Denmark’s Daniel Lundgaard and Mads Vestergaard for a place in the quarter-finals.
