PETALING JAYA: Bad habits were the Achilles heel for national doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah as they crashed out of the China Masters on Thursday (Aug 3) at the Shenzhen Arena.
"It has become a habit – all the simple mistakes on court. We really need to have a serious look at it," said Pearly in an interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The world No. 5 pair made a valiant effort against Benyapa Aimsaard-Nuntakarn Aimsaard but went down to the Thai sisters 16-21, 21-17, 19-21 in a second round match that lasted 67 minutes.
The defeat is another in a series of early round eliminations for the seasoned duo, following their second round exit at the World Championships in India prior to the Masters.
With the Aichi-Nagoya Games starting on Sept 19, Pearly recognises the need for immediate change.
"Hopefully, we can implement some changes within the next two weeks," she said.
"The positive is that we now have a clear understanding of the areas that require improvement.
"We need to be more aggressive and we’ll work hard to implement that before the Asiad."
Meanwhile, professionals Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing stole the show when they knocked out sixth seeds Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi of China 24-22, 21-19 in 48 minutes to book their spot in the quarter-finals.
It was sweet revenge for the 28-year-old Pang Ron and Pei Jing, 34, as they had earlier fallen short to the Chinese pair in the Malaysian Masters in March.
They will next face Taiwan’s world No. 48 Liu Kuang-heng-Hsu Yin-hui in the quarter-finals.
Joining them in the quarter-finals are Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie, who knocked out Japan’s Akira Koga-Natsu Saito 21-14, 19-21, 21-10.
SECOND ROUND RESULTS
(Malaysians only)
Men’s doubles: Soh Wooi Yik-Aaron Tai bt Chen Boyang-Liu Yi (Chn) 21-13, 21-18.
Women’s singles: Wang Zhiyi (Chn) bt K. Letshanaa 21-10, 21-8.
Women’s doubles: Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian (Chn) bt Low Zi Yu-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan 13-21, 16-21; Benyapa Aimsaard-Nuntakarn Aimsaard (Tha) bt Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah 16-21, 21-17, 19-21.
Mixed doubles: Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing bt Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi (Chn) 24-22, 21-19; Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie bt Akira Koga-Natsu Saito (Jpn) 21-14, 19-21, 21-10.
