KUALA LUMPUR: National men’s doubles pair Choong Hon Jian-Muhammad Haikal Nazri created a major upset by defeating Denmark’s third seeds Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen.
The unseeded Malaysian pair stormed into the Arctic Open 2025 semi-finals with a straight-game victory in Vantaa, Finland.
Hon Jian and Muhammad Haikal needed just 39 minutes to secure their quarter-final win with scores of 23-21, 21-15.
They will now face England’s Ben Lane and Sean Vendy for a place in the tournament final.
The English duo themselves caused an upset by defeating sixth seeds Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi from China.
Meanwhile, top seeds Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik endured a tough battle against unseeded Taiwanese opponents Liu Kuang Heng and Yang Po Han.
The 2022 world champions eventually prevailed with a hard-fought 21-19, 19-21, 21-17 victory.
Aaron-Wooi Yik will face eighth seeds Kittinupong Kedren and Dechapol Puavaranukroh from Thailand in their semi-final match.
The Thai pair staged a remarkable comeback to defeat China’s fourth seeds Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang.
Kittinupong and Dechapol recovered from losing the first game to win 19-21, 21-14, 21-19. – Bernama