PETALING JAYA: Doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah have advanced to the second round of the Indian Open.
In men's doubles, Aaron and Wooi Yik had to work hard to overcome Thailand's world No. 31 pair, Peeratchai Sukphun-Pakkapon Teeraratsakul, winning 20-22, 21-16, 21-18 in a tightly contested 56-minute match at the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday (Jan 15).
The world No. 5 pair will next face China's world No. 39 duo, Xie Haonan-Zeng Weihan, for a place in the quarter-finals.
In women's doubles, Pearly and Thinaah defeated India's A. Prerana-D. Mrunmayee 21-8, 21-19, setting up a meeting against China's Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian in the second round.
Jia Yifan captured gold in the Paris Olympics last August with Chen Qingchen before teaming up with Zhang Shuxian last November.
Yifan and Shuxian demonstrated their strength by finishing as runners-up to Japan's Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto in the recent Malaysian Open.
