PETALING JAYA: Women's doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah battled their way through a stern first-round test at the China Masters.
The World Championship silver medallists edged past Indonesia’s Febriana Kusuma-Meilysa Puspitasari 20-22, 21-16, 22-20 in Shenzhen on Wednesday (Sept 17).
It was a repeat of their second-round clash at last week’s Hong Kong Open, but this time the contest proved far tougher as it stretched to a deciding rubber.
The Malaysian pair’s attacking play lacked its usual sharpness, but they dug deep to hold their ground and eventually came through with a hard-fought victory after a gruelling 73 minutes.
Also following in the footsteps of Pearly-Thinaah were youngsters Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting, who underlined their dominance against India’s Rutaparna Panda-Swetaparna Panda with a 21-8, 21-13 win in just 28 minutes.
However, it was the end of the road for Go Pei Kee-Teoh Mei Xing, who fell to eighth seeds Li Yijing-Luo Xumin of China in a hard-fought battle 19-21, 21-12, 19-21.
In the men’s doubles, fifth seeds Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun were pushed to the limit before prevailing against French brothers Christo Popov-Toma Junior Popov.
The Malaysians held their nerve in the deciding rubber to clinch a 21-11, 25-27, 21-15 victory.
