Malaysia’s world No. 3 women’s doubles duo, Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah, secured a spot in the China Open quarter-finals after battling through a tough match against Japan’s Rui Hirokami and Sayaka Hobara.
According to Free Malaysia Today (FMT), the more experienced Malaysian pair faced some early pressure but ultimately came through with a 21-17, 21-13 victory in their second-round match at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium in Changzhou.
The match lasted 38 minutes, during which Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah had to work hard to get past the world No. 99 Japanese duo, Rui Hirokami and Sayaka Hobara, who were playing together for just the fourth time on the BWF World Tour. Despite their limited time as a team, the Japanese pair showed resilience, forcing the Malaysians to stay sharp and dig deep to seal the win.
The report also noted that the Japanese duo had previously faced the Malaysian pair in the semi-finals of the Thailand Open back in May, where they were similarly defeated in straight sets.
Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah are set to meet the winners of the second-round clash between Indonesia’s Fabriana Dwipuji Kusuma–Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi and Japan’s Yuki Fukushima–Mayu Matsumoto in the next round. It is also worth noting that no Malaysian women’s doubles pair has ever advanced to the final of the China Open.
