22 May, 2023
Ben Lane and Sean Vendy have been handed an intriguing opening round draw at the PERODUA Malaysia Masters 2023 in Kuala Lumpur this week.
With the Sudirman Cup having marked the start of the Olympic qualification period, players across all disciplines will be looking to get some early points on the board.
Lane and Vendy were due to begin against fifth seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty at this Super 500 event but the Indian pair’s withdrawal means Chinese Taipei’s Lee Fang-chih and Lee Fang-jen, silver medallists at the Spain Masters in April, now lie in wait for what will be the first meeting between the two duos.
Meanwhile, Chloe Birch and Lauren Smith will be in women’s doubles action at the tournament.
Birch and Smith were in encouraging form towards the end of the European swing, reaching back-to-back quarter-finals in Madrid and Orleans, and will be looking to build on that across the coming months.
The English pairing have been drawn against Rena Miyaura and Ayako Sakuramoto in round one, the Japanese pairing sitting 23rd in the BWF World Rankings – just three spots above Birch and Smith.
This will be a first meeting between the two pairings, and the victorious pair would likely go on to face sixth seeds Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan in the second round.
Smith will also be in mixed doubles action alongside Marcus Ellis, with the duo looking to build on some recent encouraging displays when they take to court in Kuala Lumpur.
Ellis and Smith’s performance in a tight loss to world No.6 pairing Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue at the Sudirman Cup last week was one of their best in recent times, and they will be looking to take positives into their opening round meeting against Mathias Thyrri and Amalie Magelund.
At 31st in the rankings, the Danish duo are 42 places above Ellis and Smith, though the two pairings have never met before and the English stars certainly have an advantage in terms of experience.
The second round could bring a battle of the Brits, with Scottish duo Adam Hall and Julie MacPherson potentially lying in wait, while it will not be too long until the English and Danish pairings once again lock horns.
Full draw information and live scores can be found here.
