National women’s doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah earned sweet redemption by beating Indonesia’s Lanny Tria Mayasari-Siti Fadia Ramadhanti in the second round of the Indonesian Open in Jakarta on Thursday (June 5).
The duo battled for 59 minutes before prevailing 18-21, 21-16, 21-17 at the Istora Senayan, overcoming not only the home duo but also the challenge of adjusting to the court conditions and a partisan crowd.
It was a particularly satisfying win as Lanny-Siti had ousted fellow Malaysians Go Pei Kee-Teoh Mei Xing in the opening round the day before.
Pearly-Thinaah will face the winners of the match between Malaysians Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting and Japan’s sixth seeds Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi.
Men’s doubles pair Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun also booked their spot in the quarter-finals after coming through an all-Malaysian clash against Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi.
Despite being the seventh seeds and last year’s finalists, Wei Chong-Kai Wun did not have it easy as Roy King-Wan Arif put up a fierce fight.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun had to dig deep before sealing a 14-21, 21-11, 21-15 victory in a 50-minute battle.
Awaiting them in the last eight on Friday are the winners of the tie between Denmark’s Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard and India’s top pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty.
