Malaysian women’s doubles stars Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah start their BWF World Tour Finals campaign with a straight-games win in Hangzhou.
NATIONAL women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah started their Badminton World Federation World Tour Finals campaign with a commanding victory.
The world number two Malaysian duo, fresh from SEA Games gold, defeated China’s world number four Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian 21-17, 21-11 in 46 minutes in their Group A opener today.
The win improves their head-to-head record against the Chinese pair to 2-5.
Thinaah expressed elation with the performance, crediting their preparation and on-court communication.
“We just wanted to make sure we have no regrets on court,” she said in a BWF recording.
“Communicate well whenever things don’t go well, just talk it out and then have each other’s back. I think that’s what really helped us.”
The top-seeded Malaysians will face Japan’s world number six Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi tomorrow, seeking an early semi-final berth.
They conclude their Group A fixtures against another Japanese pair, Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto.
In mixed doubles, an all-Malaysian Group B clash saw Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei defeat compatriots Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Lai Jemie 21-13, 21-13.
The world champions will next play Indonesia’s Jafar Hidyatullah and Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu.
Their final group match is against world number ones Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping of China.
Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Lai must beat the Chinese top seeds tomorrow to keep their semi-final hopes alive.
