Malaysia’s top women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan and M.Thinaah successfully cleared their opening round at the prestigious Indonesia Open, moving into the last 16 after a determined straight-games victory in Jakarta today.
Ranked world No.4 Pearly-Thinaah defeated Taiwan’s Sung Shun Yun and Yu Chien Hui, the world No.15 pair, 21-16, 21-17 in a 41 minute encounter. Despite the straight game scoreline, the Malaysian duo were made to work hard for each point, drawing on their experience and synergy to secure their second win against the Taiwanese pair.
Having recently claimed the Thailand Open Super 500 title, Pearly and Thinaah are now aiming for a breakthrough at the Super 1000 level, with hopes of capturing their maiden title in one of the sport’s most elite tournaments.
In the next round, the Malaysian pair will face local favorites Lanny Tria Mayasari and Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti, who came through a hard fought match against fellow Malaysian Go Pei Kee and Teoh Mei Xing, winning 19-21, 21-16, 21-19 in 69 minutes.
There was also good news from Malaysia’s emerging women’s double pair Ong Xin yee and Carmen Ting. The unseeded duo pulled off a surprise win over Indonesia’s Isyana Syahira Meida and Rinjani Kwinara Nastine in another 69 minute thriller, recovering from a slow start to win 10-21, 21-14, 21-17.
Meanwhile, mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie Lai had a convincing start to their campaign. The world No.5 duo needed just 31 minutes to dispatch Thailand’s Phuwanat Horbanluekit and Fungfa Korpthammakit 21-12, 21-16. They will next take on Indonesia’s Amri Syahnawi and Nita Violina Marwah, currently ranked 25th, for a place in the quarter finals.
However, it was a tough day for Malaysia’s men’s doubles representatives. Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi came close but fell short in a high quality clash against China’s world No.4 pair Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang. Despite pushing both games to the brink, they were edged out 21-23, 20-22 in 40 minutes.
Choong Hon Jian and Haikal Muhammad were also eliminated after a one sided 13-21, 9-21 loss to Japan’s duo Hoki Takuro and Yugo Kobayashi in 29 minutes.
As the tournament progresses, all eyes will be on Pearly-Thinaah and the other Malaysian pairs still in the fray, as they look to make a deep run in Jakarta’s premier badminton event.
Sources: FMT
