PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik launched their All-England campaign in convincing fashion after defeating American duo Chen Zhi Yi-Presley Smith 21-17, 21-17 in 38 minutes.
They will face compatriots Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King in the second round in Birmingham next.
Arif-Roy King had earlier upstaged Denmark’s Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard 21-19, 18-21, 21-18 in a gruelling 69-minute battle.
Also advancing to the next stage were independent pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, who beat Japan’s Kakeru Kumagai-Hiroki Nishi 21-10, 21-15.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin are scheduled to take on Indonesia’s Muhammad Rian Ardianto-Rahmat for a place in the quarter-finals.
Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun also progressed comfortably after seeing off Taiwan’s Lee Fang-chih-Lee Fang-jen 21-17, 21-16.
They will meet another Taiwanese pair, Chiu Hsiang-chieh-Wang Chi-lin, who eliminated Malaysia’s Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong 21-18, 21-14.
In the women’s doubles, Pearly Tan-M Thinaah exacted revenge on Japan’s Arisa Igarashi-Chiharu Shida to move into the second round with a 21-19, 21-13 win.
“We lost to them at the Denmark Open last year. This time we tried something different in terms of strategy and prepared better, and we are happy it worked,” said Thinaah.
The world No. 2 pair will next face South Korea’s Lee Seo-jin-Lee Yeon-woo for a spot in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, another Malaysian pair Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting bowed out in the opening round after going down to Japan’s Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto 17-21, 8-21.
