Cheam June Wei produced a major upset at the Korea Masters, beating second seed Jason Teh of Singapore in straight games to bounce back strongly from his disappointing outing at last week’s Taiwan Open.
The world No. 72 Malaysian showed impressive control in Asan to defeat world No. 29 Teh 21-13, 21-19 and book his place in the last 16.
The win was particularly encouraging for June Wei after he failed to make the main draw in Taipei last week, despite entering the tournament on the back of his fourth Lin Dan Cup title.
Rather than allowing that setback to affect his confidence, the Malaysian responded with one of his strongest performances in recent weeks. He kept Teh under pressure throughout the match and remained composed to close out the victory in two games.
The result also improves June Wei’s head-to-head record against Teh to 3-4, giving him renewed confidence as he looks to build momentum in Korea.
His next challenge will come against China’s world No. 49 Dong Tian Yao, who defeated Japan’s Minoru Koga 21-8, 21-16 in his opening match.
June Wei will enter the last-16 clash looking to avenge his only previous meeting with Dong, who beat him at last year’s Ruichang China Masters. The Chinese shuttler currently leads their head-to-head record 1-0.
After eliminating one of the tournament’s leading seeds, June Wei now has an opportunity to push deeper into the competition and turn his early disappointment in Taipei into a strong run in Korea.
Another victory would take him into the quarter-finals and further underline his ability to bounce back when the pressure is on.
