Malaysia’s top women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah marked their return to the World Tour circuit with a hard-fought victory at the Singapore Open after a two-month absence caused by injury.
The world No. 2 duo survived an early scare against Taiwan’s Hu Ling Fang and Jheng Yu Chieh before battling back to secure a 20-22, 21-16, 21-15 win in 51 minutes at the Singapore Indoor Stadium today.
Despite dropping the opening game, Pearly and Thinaah regained control in the following two sets to book their place in the second round. Their comeback victory delighted Malaysian badminton fans, especially after concerns over Pearly’s fitness in recent weeks.
Pearly had previously skipped both the Uber Cup Finals and last week’s Malaysia Masters due to a recurring back injury.
The Malaysian pair will next face either Thailand’s Benyapa Aimsaard-Nuntakarn Aimsaard or Canada’s Jackie Dent-Crystal Lai in tomorrow’s second-round clash.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s men’s doubles stars Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik also advanced after defeating France’s Christo Popov and Toma Junior Popov in straight games.
The world No. 2 pair took 37 minutes to overcome the French brothers 21-17, 21-15 and move into the last 16. Aaron and Wooi Yik, who suffered a semi-final exit at last week’s Malaysia Masters, are still chasing their first title of the year.
They will next take on either Japan’s Kakeru Kumagai-Hiroki Nishi or England’s Ben Lane-Sean Vendy.
Malaysia also celebrated another strong result in the men’s doubles through Aaron Tai and Kang Khai Xing, who stunned their higher-ranked compatriots Nur Azriyn Ayub and Tan Wee Kiong 21-15, 21-17 in just 30 minutes.
The pair now face a tough challenge against Indonesia’s world No. 7 duo Sabar Karyaman Gutama and Reza Pahlevi Isfahani in the next round.
In mixed doubles, second seeds Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei comfortably defeated newly-formed Malaysian pair Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing 21-15, 21-16 in 35 minutes.
However, husband-and-wife pair Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie Lai crashed out after losing to South Korea’s Kim Jae Hyeon and Jang Ha Jeong 21-14, 13-21, 14-21.
Malaysia’s campaign in the singles events had already come to an end earlier after all national representatives in both the men’s and women’s singles categories were eliminated in the opening round yesterday.
