SINGAPORE – Against the odds, Koen Pang and Izaac Quek took the first game against Singapore Smash men’s doubles defending champions Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin and briefly threatened an upset on March 14.

However, in front of 500 fans in the jam-packed OCBC Arena Hall 2, the rankings and form book prevailed as Chinese world No. 1 came back to beat the 16th-ranked Singaporeans 3-1 (9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-4). They will face Swedes Mattias Falck and Anton Kallberg in the semi-finals.