The top seeds in the men’s singles of the Petronas National Championships 2023 faced little difficulty on opening day as they made the cut to the Round of 32 with relative ease.
No. 1 seed Leong Jun Hao, who did not have to play in the Round of 128 earlier in the morning, cruised through to the next round when he beat Zulhelmi Zulkiffli in straight set.
The 23-year-old from Setapak coast to a 21-16, 21-17 win over Zulhelmi and where Jun Hao will now take on Sie Zi Lok in the next round tomorrow.
The 18-year-old Zi Lok confirmed his slot for tomorrow’s challenge with an efficient 21-11, 21-17 victory over Erfan Majeed Hajibeigy.
Also in the Round of 32 is second seed and veteran Soong Joo Ven, who overcame the challenge of unheralded Loh Zi Heng 21-17, 21-11.
Joo Ven’s opponent tomorrow will be Aaron Kok Kai Bin, who disposed of Joshua Wong Sheng Yao 21-11, 21-10.
Third seed Lee Shun Yang from Penang also booked his place in the next round with a confident 21-5, 2107 win over Perlis shuttler Muhammad Zharif Aniq Shahrul Annuar.
The 22-year-old Shun Yang will play Lim Min Hong, who beat Ahmad Fairuzly Muhammad Alif 21-8, 21-5, next.
Ong Ken Yon maintained his fourth seeded status with a straight set 21-8, 21-13 win over Chew Zu Yuet where he will face Muhammad Naim Ahmad Fairuzly in the Round of 32 tomorrow.
In the women’s singles, Penang’s Christine Lam Mei He snuffed out the challenge of Syareha Ab. Halim from Kedah 21-15, 21-13 to book her place in the next round of the competition.
And while Christine will now look forward to playing BAM’s Chong Shi Ming in the Round of 32 tomorrow, Nilasha Kalishvaran from Selangor was made to work hard for her win today.
In the battle that lasted 45 minutes, Nilasha had to pull out all the stops against Nurin Aina Nasuha Mohd Ridzuan from BAM before winning 17-21, 21-12, 21-15 in the 45 minute duel.
