Malaysian shuttlers endured a disappointing day at the Malaysia Open, suffering several early exits in the second round, including women’s doubles title contenders Pearly Tan-M Thinaah.
The second-seeded pair were knocked out by world No 60 Indonesians Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Meilysa Trias Puspitasari, marking their first defeat to the duo after four previous wins. Despite strong support from the home crowd, Pearly-Thinaah lost 24-26, 17-21 in a 53-minute match at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil.
Fans were further disappointed when world No 7 men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani were beaten 13-21, 17-21 by England’s Ben Lane-Sean Vendy, ranked 16th in the world, in a 42-minute encounter.
In men’s singles, national player Leong Jun Hao was outplayed by Indonesia’s top shuttler Jonatan Christie, going down 21-18, 21-11 in 55 minutes.
Earlier, world No 9 mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai suffered a surprise defeat, losing 9-21, 17-21 to American duo Presley Smith-Jennie Gai, who are ranked 22 places lower.
The only bright spot for Malaysia was reigning world mixed doubles champions Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei, who advanced to the quarter-finals.
