THE country’s number one women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah lived up to the expectations by advancing to the second round of the 2024 Denmark Open Badminton Championships after eliminating Indian pair Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand Pullela in a match that went the distance today.
In the action that took place at the Jyske Bank Arena, Treesa-Gayatri, ranked number 21 in the world, dominated the first game and beat Pearly-Thinaah 21-19.
However, Pearly-Thinaah, who trailed 4-7 in the second set, made a comeback to restore order before winning the second game 21-17 and force a deciding set.
In the deciding set, both pairs exchanged point for point in the early stages but as the match progressed, Pearly-Thinaah started enforcing their prowess to win 21-15.
Waiting for Pearly-Thinaah in the second round would be either South Korean pair Lee Yu Lim-Shin Seung Chan or Scottish pair Julie Macpherson-Ciara Torrance who will be playing later.
Meanwhile, there was no such joy in the men’s singles competition when Leong Jun Hao was sent packing early by Indonesian number one Jonathan Christie 16-21, 14-21 in their first round encounter.
Meanwhile, national men’s doubles professional pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Mohd Rumsani, who clinched the Arctic Open title on Sunday (Oct 13) were sent packing in the first round by Thailand’s Kittinupong Kedren-Dechapol Puavaranukroh.
The world number eight Malaysians went down 13-21, 13-21.
“Our opponents played much better than us,” said Sze Fei in an audio recording shared by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) today.
Meanwhile, Nur Izzuddin refused to blame fatigue for their defeat today following their exertions in the Arctic Open last week.
“Fatigue is not an excuse for today’s defeat. It just means we need to improve both mentally and physically,” he said.
In mixed doubles, there was better luck for Malaysia’s Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing when they cleared the first round with a 21-7, 21-14 win over England’s Ethan Van Luuwen-Chloe Birch.
In the second round, the Malaysian professional pair will take on either South Korean third seeds Kim Won Ho-Jeong Na Eun or Thailand’s Ruttanapak Oupthong-Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat, who will meet later today in a first-round clash.
