Tough day for the European players at the Malaysia Masters as none managed to make it past the Round of 16 except for the English duo of Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith.
The third day of the PERODUA Malaysia Masters 2023 presented by DAIHATSU proved to be a challenging one for European players as they struggled to advance past the Round of 16. However, among the tough competition, one European duo managed to shine through — England’s Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith.
Ellis and Smith faced off against the Scottish duo of Adam Hall and Julie Macpherson. The English pair had previously engaged in a hard-fought three-game battle against Mathias Thyrri and Amalie Magelund of Denmark in their opening match yesterday. However, Ellis and Smith secured a commanding straight-games victory against Hall and Macpherson, 21-16 21-14.
Their upcoming challenge lies not so far away. Tomorrow in the quarterfinals, they are set to clash with Thailand’s Supak Jomkoh and Supissara Paewsampran. Ranked 13th in the world, the Thai duo promises to present a great test for Ellis and Smith. In their head-to-head encounters, the record stands at 1-1, with the last match taking place over a year ago at the German Open 2022, where Ellis and Smith emerged as winners in a gruelling three-game encounter. Will they be able to repeat the feat to advance to the Malaysia Masters semifinals?