PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s women’s doubles stars Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah were made to work hard before sealing their place in the second round of the Japan Masters in Kumamoto on Wednesday (Nov 12).
The world No. 2 pair overcame a strong challenge from Japan’s unheralded duo Mikoto Aiso-Momoha Nimi, prevailing 18-21, 21-9, 21-17 in the first round encounter.
The young Japanese pair - Aiso, 19, and Nimi, 20, came out firing and caught the Malaysians off guard with their relentless attacking play to take the opening game. But Pearly-Thinaah bounced back superbly, dominating the second game to force a decider.
The third game turned into a thriller, with both sides trading points aggressively, but the experienced Malaysians held their nerve to seal victory and advance.
Pearly-Thinaah will face the winners of the match between Moe Aoki-An Uesugi of Japan and South Koreans Jeong Na-eun-Lee Yeon-woo next.
In the women's singles, K. Letshanaa is also through to the second round after beating Keisha Fatimah of Azerbaijan 25-23, 21-8 and will face Taiwan's Chiu Pin-chian for a place in the quarter-finals.
Malaysia experienced mixed fortunes in the first round action of the men's singles and mixed doubles events.
Jacky Kok defeated Kiran George 22-20, 21-10 to set up a meeting against Kenta Nishimoto of Japan but it was over for Justin Hoh in the men's singles.
And only Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin and Jimmy Wong-Lai Pei Jing were through to the second round in the mixed doubles. They will face top seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paesampran of Thailand and Taiwan's Ye Hong-wei-Nicole Gonzales Chan respectively next.
RESULTS
FIRST ROUND
Men's singles: Shogo Ogawa (Jpn) bt Justin Hoh 21-14, 21-9; Jacky Kok bt Kiran George (Ind) 22-20, 21-10.
Women's singles: K. Letshanna bt Keisha Fatimah (Azb) 25-23, 21-8.
Women's doubles: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah bt Mikoto Aiso-Momoha Nimi (Jpn) 18-21, 21-9, 21-17.
Mixed doubles: Yuichi Shimogami-Sayaka Hobara (Jpn) bt Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie 21-17, 21-13; Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin bt Wu Hsuan-yi-Yang Chu-yun (Tpe) 21-18, 18-21, 21-19; Liu Kuang-heng-Jheng Yu-chieh (Tpe) bt Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien 21-15, 21-16; Jimmy Wong-Lai Pei Jing bt Lu Ming-che-Hung En-tzu (Tpe) 21-19, 21-15.
