V Shem-Wee Kiong suffer early exit at Australian Open

MALAYSIAN men's doubles pair Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong struggled once again as they were knocked out of the Australian Open in the first round.

The world No. 4, whose partnership has been called for review by Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Norza Zakaria, lost 21-16, 13-21, 13-21 to unseeded Takuto Inoue and Yuki Kaneko of Japan.

Despite taking the first set, they were unable to overcome the Japanese pair, whom they last faced, and beat, at the 2015 Swiss Open.

The defeat, which added to their list of poor results in 2017 so far, was the first time they crashed out in the first round of a tournament since the Chinese Open last November.

Meanwhile, compatriots Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi had a better outing as they beat Simon Leung and Mitchell Wheller of Australia 21-6 and 21-11.

The Malaysian duo will face either Indonesia's Saputra Alvindo-Ferdinand Sinarta Surabkti or Australia's Raymond Tam-Eric Vuong tomorrow.