Ling Ching set to be Malaysia’s new women’s No. 1 shuttler

Ling Ching set to be Malaysia’s new women’s No. 1 shuttler

KUALA LUMPUR: Wong Ling Ching moved a step closer to overtaking teammate K. Letshanaa as Malaysia’s top women’s singles player after making a winning start at the Swiss Open in Basel on Wednesday.

The world No. 37 produced a commanding performance to beat Taiwan’s world No. 31 Huang Yu Hsun 21-14, 21-9, extending her perfect head-to-head record against the Taiwanese to 4-0.

Ling Ching arrived in Switzerland hoping to build on her encouraging progress this season after reaching the semi-finals of the Thailand Masters in January and the quarter-finals of the German Open two weeks ago.

The 22-year-old also has added incentive this week as she sits just one place behind Letshanaa in the latest world rankings.

A quarter-final finish in Basel could see Ling Ching leapfrog her teammate to become the country’s highest-ranked women’s singles player, especially after Letshanaa suffered an early exit.

DISYORKAN UNTUK ANDA :

Rumah Bangsa UMNO: Penyatuan Tanpa Syarat Demi Masa Depan

Letshanaa fought hard before going down 23-21, 14-21, 21-14 to Thailand’s eighth seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan.

The defeat marked her fourth successive loss to the world No. 16 Thai and her second straight first-round exit following a similar outcome at the German Open.

Ling Ching, however, faces a far sterner challenge next as she takes on Indonesia’s top seed Putri Kusuma Wardani in the second round — a meeting that will mark their first career encounter.

Malaysia were staring at a complete wipeout in the mixed doubles before world No. 23 pair Jimmy Wong-Lai Pei Jing stepped up to keep the nation’s hopes alive.

Jimmy-Pei Jing defeated Denmark’s world No. 31 Rasmus Espersen-Amalie Cecillie Kudsk 21-18, 22-20 in a hard-fought contest. The second game turned into a roller-coaster battle with the Malaysians trailing for most of the way.

DISYORKAN UNTUK ANDA :

Pintu Penyatuan Dibuka, UMNO Perkukuh Saf Perjuangan – Mohd Sharkar

Jimmy-Pei Jing were behind 11-6 and later 16-13 before launching a superb fightback, reeling off six straight points to move ahead 19-16.

The Danes responded strongly to snatch the game point first, but Jimmy-Pei Jing held their nerve to seal the victory and advance to the next round.

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s mixed doubles pair Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin endured another disappointing outing after crashing out in the opening round.

The world No. 24 pair fell 21-19, 26-24 to China’s world No. 74 Zhu Yi Jun-Li Qian, extending their worrying slump on the World Tour.

Pang Ron-Su Yin have now failed to progress beyond the last 16 in their past nine World Tour appearances, with five of those ending in first-round defeats.

Their prolonged struggles could place their partnership under scrutiny if results do not improve soon.

It was also a tough outing for independent pair Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien, who are still searching for their first win on the European leg after losing 17-21, 21-17, 21-14 to Thailand’s Pakkapon Teeraratsakul-Sapsiree Taerattanachai. Last week, Tien Ci-Chiew Sien also bowed out in the opening round of the All England.