Badminton: Pearly-Thinaah start strong at China Masters

PETALING JAYA: Women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah started off strong at the China Masters as they advanced to the second round on Wednesday (Nov 20).

The world No. 6 duo took down China’s new women’s doubles pair Ding Keyun-Wang Yiduo 21-16, 21-14 in the opening round at the Shenzhen Gymnasium.

Pearly-Thinaah could face Taiwan’s Hsu Yin-hui-Lin Jhih-yun or Japan’s Arisa Igarashi-Ayako Sakuramoto in the second round.

The fifth-seeded Malaysians are hoping to bounce back after their disappointing first-round exit at the Japan Masters last week.

In the men’s singles category, Leong Jun Hao could not maintain his stellar form at the Japan Masters last week as he fell to Japan’s Takuma Obayashi 12-21, 11-21 in the first round.