Singapore Open: ‘Ambitious’ Koreans Trip Zheng/Huang

Thailand Open champions Kim Won Ho and Jeong Na Eun admitted they are hungry for more after flooring top seeds Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong in straight games at Singapore Open 2023.

The world No.6 Koreans picked up from where they left off in Bangkok last week, where they upset top-seeded home darlings Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai in the final, to storm into the last four with a 40-minute 21-19 21-19 win.

“Unbelievable result. We are still in disbelief we’ve beaten the world’s best pair. We are delighted,” said Kim.

On how they aced their first meeting with the world No.1s, Kim said: “We didn’t let our ego hold us back. The fact we accepted pre-match they were the better pair, kept us on our toes to think a step ahead. Our preparedness forced them into mistakes, which in turn increased our confidence.”

Other than Zheng/Huang and Puavaranukroh/Taerattanachai, Kim and Jeong also got the better of Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino twice this year.

“As we keep beating the world’s top pairs, we are growing in confidence. We just want to enhance our trust in each other and perfect our chemistry,” said Kim.

“We are getting more and more ambitious. But we need our confidence to match our ambitions as none of the opponents are easy.”

Kim is not done for the day though; he returns with Choi Sol Gyu for a shot at the men’s doubles semifinals spot later against Malaysians Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi.

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