When Naoya Kawashima/Kota Ogawa stepped onto the court this afternoon at the CROWNE PLAZA Saipan International, they knew they weren’t in for a regular match. Opposite them was a pair who had been around the world a few times — Alistair Casey and Mathew Fogarty are no strangers to the international scene.
At 69, Fogarty is the oldest player in this week’s tournament. Despite this, he and Casey strung together quality rallies against their Japanese opponents. Although the final score was 21-9, 21-7 to Kawashima/Ogawa, Fogarty says it’s worth the travel to compete.
“In the United States for years there were players that never thought they could make it on the world stage,” he said. “I just wanted to show all the younger players; please go and please try your best. You have a chance to become good.”
Elsewhere, New Zealand’s Raphael Deloy/Dylan Soedjasa put in a strong effort against Chinese Taipei’s Bo-Yuan Chen/Ming Che Lu. While the Kiwi pair couldn’t snag the win, their positioning and communication continued to improve.
Across the rest of the men’s doubles draw, the top players progressed in straight games. After first-round byes, the top seeds will enter the competition tomorrow, opening the door for more upsets.
In the men’s singles, the top seeds faced mounting pressure.
Second seed Shogo Ogawa (JPN) found himself trailing early against Erfan Hajibeigy (MAS). However, he shifted gears late in the first game and powered through the second to book his place in the round of 16, 21-18, 21-7.
Third seed Choi Ji Hoon (KOR) faced a tougher task. After falling 14-21 in the first game, Choi needed to dig deep to keep his campaign alive. He found his rhythm quickly in the second game, exploiting gaps and mistakes from his opponent, Chee Hong Wei (MAS). Even when Chee closed the deficit late in the third game, the Korean athlete stood firm, coming away with a 14-21, 21-9, 21-19 win.
Tian Qi Zhang/Audrey Chang (USA) fell short of repeating their mixed doubles quarterfinal run from last week’s tournament. The match lasted just 37 minutes but was no less explosive, full of nail-biting rallies. Up against Osuke Sakurai/Momoha Niimi (JPN), the Americans gave their all but ultimately fell short, losing 10-21, 21-11, 12-21.
