PETALING JAYA: National men's badminton doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik's German Open campaign came to a premature end when they unexpectedly went down 13-21, 18-21 to Japan's world No 25 Akira Koga-Taichi Saito in the second round in Mulheim late Thursday (March 9).
The shock defeat was a blow to the world No 2 pair, who were the top seeds in the tournament and had a good opportunity to at least reach the final.
Independent pairs Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi and Tan Kian Meng-Tan Wee Kiong also bowed out of the competition.
World No 8 Yew Sin-Ee Yi went down fighting 21-18, 18-21, 18-21 to Taiwan's world No 28 Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan, while Kian Meng-Wee Kiong fell 15-21, 17-21 to South Korea's Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae.
With their defeats, Malaysia's challenge in the men's doubles came to an end.
In the women's doubles, world No 6 Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah brought some cheer when they beat Scotland's world No 33 Julia Macpherson-Ciara Torrance 21-18, 21-15.
Pearly-Thinaah have a tough task in the last eight on Friday (March 10) against Japan's two-time world champions Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara.
