Eogene Ewe showed strong resolve to bounce back from last week’s early exit at the US Open by booking his place in the main draw of the Canada Open.
The world No. 98 cleared both his qualifying hurdles at the Markham Pan Am Centre in Ontario on Tuesday to earn a shot at redemption in the Super 300 tournament.
Eogene made a confident start, brushing aside India’s world No. 137 Chirag Sen 21-14, 21-10.
He then edged Taiwan’s world No. 93 Ting Yen Chen 21-19, 22-20, improving his head-to-head record against the Taiwanese to 3-1.
The back-to-back wins will be a welcome confidence boost for the 20-year-old, who crashed out in the opening qualifying round of the US Open last week to South Korea’s Yoo Tae Bin — the same player he had beaten to win the Slovenia Open title in May.
Eogene will now look for a further breakthrough when he takes on world No. 40 Takuma Obayashi in the first round on Wednesday.
The Japanese shuttler was a finalist at the 2022 Canada Open.
Three other Malaysians will also begin their campaigns on Wednesday.
World No. 43 Justin Hoh, who fell short of expectations at the US Open last week, opens his men’s singles challenge against Taiwan’s world No. 71 Wang Po Wei.
In the women’s singles, K. Letshanaa, fresh off a new career-high ranking of No. 45, will meet American world No. 67 Ishika Jaiswal.
World No. 87 Wong Ling Ching faces a tough first-round clash against Denmark’s fifth seed and world No. 31 Line Christophersen.
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