From the very first serve, day two of the YONEX Northern Marianas Open delivered the action.
For some, today marked a milestone achievement. For others, the disappointment of falling just short was palpable. For Tian Qi Zhang and Audery Chang, today’s win was confirmation of the hard work they’ve been putting in.
“We’re taking it one step at a time, but we are seeing that we can compete with these countries across the world,” said Zhang “It gives us a bit of confidence as well that what we’ve been doing at home, the training we’ve put in, the work we’ve done is paying off.”
The USA mixed doubles pair’s composure shone through on the court, coming from behind in the final game to a 21-18, 19-21, 24-22 win over Korea’s Hyun Su Min/Moon In Seo. Their secret? Playing without considering the score.
“Even though we were down so many points we were confident in our own abilities, despite what the scoreboard said,” explained Zhang. “We just pretended every point was zero-all. We just thought about the point we were on each time”
Meanwhile, Chinese Taipei’s Huang Kai Yi/Hung Bing Fu debuted as a XD pair against Korea’s Jae Geol Lee/Park Byeong Hun. In a hotly contested battle, the freshly paired duo held their own. Yet, the chemistry forged between Lee/Park proved too strong, and the Korean partners sent their opponents packing with a score of 21-18, 16-21, 21-19.
Another one of today’s standout moments came from the men’s singles match between Malaysia’s Erfan Majeed Hajibeigy and Korea’s Cho Hyeon Woo.
The match seemed relatively even across the first two games, but Cho pushed to a massive 19-12 lead in the third. Normally, it would be safe to consider the match finished. But this was not a normal match.
In an astonishing effort, Hajibeigy staged the comeback of the competition thus far, taking the final game 22-20 and securing a R16 bid.
“The last set I was losing a lot,” he said. “I just gave it my all. I was very tired, but I said to myself ‘if you say you’re tired then you are going to be tired, but if you say you aren’t tired then you won’t be tired.’ So I just pushed myself—one point, one point, one point—And at the end, I prayed to my god to make me calm, relaxed, and play my best game possible.”
Three Korean players survived three-game scares. After dropping a game, third seed Choi Jihoon, fifth seed Park Sang Yong, and ninth seed Byung Jae Kim all rallied back to book their spot in tomorrow’s R16.
From the Oceania contingent, Raphael Deloy/Dylan Soedjasa are the only of today’s competitors who are moving on in the competition.
In their first International Challenge as a pair, the Kiwi duo bested Sernantie Jimenez/Brandon Manacop (NMP) 21-10, 21-8.
“I think when we’re having a bit of fun and staying relaxed, we play our best. We move well,” said Soedjasa. “So, we’re pretty happy with our first match.”
For Deloy, this is his third time playing in Saipan. With the NMI badminton community cheering him and Soedjasa on in today’s match, Deloy says the support he feels competing here makes all the difference.
“It feels amazing to be back here again, I’m always excited to come back, playing the tournament and meeting my friends again they always welcome me back here so I’m always ready to come back.”
Deloy/Soedjasa will face number one seeds, Wei Chun Wei/Po Chih Yang (TPE) in the R16 tomorrow, and say they are ready to rise to the challenge.
