Pang Ron-Pei Jing storm into French Open quarter-finals

 The Malaysian mixed doubles pair defeat higher-ranked Taiwanese pair Liu Kuang Heng-Hsu Yin Hui in three games.

Malaysia’s Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing will face Germany’s giant-killers Marvin Seidel-Thuc Phuong Nguyen in the last-eight. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:

Mixed doubles shuttlers Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing’s fine run at the French Open continued as the duo defeated a higher-ranked Taiwanese pair to book their spot in the quarter-finals.

The 31st-ranked Pang Ron-Pei Jing took 51 minutes to defeat Liu Kuang Heng-Hsu Yin Hui 21-13, 13-21, 21-17 in their last-16 match at the Arena Grand Paris.

This is Pang Ron-Pei Jing’s second win over their rivals in as many encounters. The Malaysians have climbed 20 spots in the world rankings in recent weeks.

In the last-eight match tomorrow, they will face Germany’s 27th-ranked giant-killers Marvin Seidel-Thuc Phuong Nguyen, who knocked out world No 2 Chinese pair Jiang Zhen Bang-Wei Ya Xin in the second round.

The Germans also defeated Malaysia’s top mixed doubles duo Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai in the first round.

Despite their age, Pang Ron, 28, and Pei Jing, 34, have been impressive since they started playing together in May.

They were runners-up at the China Open last month and made it to the semi-final at the Denmark Open last week. Both tournaments are Super 750 championships. - FMT