French brothers Christo Popov and Toma Junior Popov were bundled out in the first round of the Malaysian Masters badminton championships in Kuala Lumpur.
The duo, who were instrumental in steering the French side to the Thomas Cup runners-up spot earlier this month, suffered a shock 19-21, 15-21 36-minute defeat to India’s Hariharan Amsakarunan-M.R. Arjun.
Following their first round exit, the siblings will now concentrate in the singles competition starting tomorrow.
Toma Junior will take on Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long while the younger Christo, is the second the second highest seed, and will play Japan’s Koki Watanabe in the opening round.
Both the top two seeds in the singles, Shi Yuqi of China and newly crowned Thailand Open champion Ander Antonsen, have withdrawn from the championships.
Malaysia’s Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub Azriyn- Tan Wee Kiong also sprang a surprise in packing off fourth seeded Lee Jhe-Huei-Yang Po-Hsuan of Chinese Taipei 21-14, 21-14.
It was the Malaysian pairs first victory over the Taiwanese pair in four meetings but they have not met since the 2024 Korea Masters.
In the women’s doubles, Malaysia’s seventh seeded Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting were handed an early exit with Taiwan’s Hsieh Yi En-Teng Chun Hsun overcoming a late fightback to take the match 21-15, 22-20.
FINAL RESULTS
Men’s Doubles:
Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin (Mas) bt Muh Putra Erwiansyah-Bagas Maulana (Ina) 21-16, 21-14; Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (Mas) bt Wesley Koh Eng Keat-Junsuke Kubo (Sgp) 19-21, 21-10, 21-12; Kang Khai Xing-Aaron Tai (Mas) bt Lao Po Yu-Tsai Fu Cheng (Tpe) 17-21, 21-19, 21-16; Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub Azriyn-Tan Wee Kiong (Mas) bt Lee Jhe Huei-Yang Po-Hsuan (Tpe) 21-14, 21-14; Chia Weijie-Teo Ee Yi (Mas) bt Kevin Lee-Ty Alexander Lindeman (Can) 21-18, 21-15; Junaidi Arif-Yap Roy King (Mas) bt He Zhi-Wei-Huang Jui-Hsuan (Tpe) 21-19, 15-21, 21-11; Chen Zhi Ray-Lin Yu Chieh (Tpe) bt Lwi Sheng Hao-Ong Ewe Sin (Mas) 21-13, 21-14; Huang Di-Liu Yang (Chn) bt Chen Cheng Kuan-Liu Kuang Heng (Tpe) 22-20, 21-11; Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) bt Muhammad Rian Ardianto-Rahmat Hidayat (Ina) 21-18, 21-18; Hariharan Amsakarunan-M.R. Arjun (Ind) bt Christo Popov-Toma Junior Popov (Fra) 21-19, 21-15; Chen Zhi Yi-Presley Smith (USA) bt Jiri Kral-Ondrej Kral (Cze) 21-15, 12-21, 21-13; Xie Haonan-Zeng Weihan (Chn) bt Chaloempon Charoenkitamorn-Worrapol Thongsa-Nga (Tha) 21-13, 21-9
Women’s Doubles: Jackie Dent-Crystal Lai (Can) bt Ashwini Bhat K-Shikha Gautam (Ind) 21-15, 17-21, 21-17; Lauren Lam-Allison Quynh Lee (USA) bt Laudya Chelsea Griselda-Nozomi Shimizu (Aus) 21-9, 21-14; Chen Fan Shutian-Luo Xumin (Chn) bt Polina Buhrova-Yevheniia Kantemyr (Ukr) 21-9, 21-15; Chen Yan Fei-Sun Liang Ching (Tpe) bt Chong Jie Yu-Vanessa Ng (Mas) 21-16, 21-17; Sayaka Hirota-Ayako Sakuramoto (Jpn) bt Paula Lopez-Lucia Rodriguez (Esp) 21-5, 21-17; Hathathip Mijad-Napapakorn-Tungkasatan (Tha) bt Hsu Ya Ching-Sung Yu-Hsuan (Tpe) 21-10, 21-13; Hsieh Yi En-Teng Chun Hsun (Tpe) bt Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting (Mas) 21-15, 22-20; Luo Yi-Wang Tingge (Chn) bt Bengisu Ercetin-Nazlican Inci (Tur) 21-8, 21-15; Fan Ka Yan-Yau Mau Yong (Hkg) bt Julia MacPherson-Ciara Torrance (Sco) 21-11, 21-13; Lanny Tria Mayasari-Apriayani Rahayu (Ina) bt Isyana Syahira Meida-Rinjani Kwinnara Nastine (Ina) 22-20, 19-21, 21-17; Lin Chih-Chun-Yang Chu Yun (Tpe) bt Phattharin Aiamvareesrisakul-Sarisa Janpeng (Tha) 21-19, 21-16
