KUALA LUMPUR: Mixed doubles pair Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing continued their fine run in Europe by reaching the last 16 of the French Open in Paris today.
World No. 31 Pang Ron-Pei Jing came from behind to beat China's world No. 26 Gao Jia Xuan-Wu Meng Ying 14-21, 21-15, 21-15 in a 46-minute first-round clash at the Arena Grand Paris.
Fresh from reaching the semi-finals of the Super 750 Denmark Open last week, the independent pair will hope to extend their run when they take on Taiwan's Liu Kuang Heng-Hsu Yin Hui for a place in the quarter-finals tomorrow.
Kuang Heng-Yin Hui cleared the path for the Malaysians by beating Thailand's world No. 5 Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Pewsampran 21-13, 20-22, 24-22 in another first-round match.
However, independent world No. 9 Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai suffered a shock 17-21, 21-15, 22-20 defeat to Germany's world No. 27 Marvin Seidel-Nguyen Thuc Phuong in the first round.
The husband-and-wife pair achieved their best result at the China Masters in August, where they reached the semi-finals, but have failed to progress beyond the first or second round in their last three outings.
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