Malaysia’s women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M Thinaah and men’s doubles duo Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani have progressed to the second round of the Indonesia Masters badminton tournament.
Also through are Nur Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong, who recorded a shock victory over higher-ranked Taiwanese pair Lee Fang Chih-Lee Fang Jen in straight games.
World No 2 women’s doubles pair Pearly-Thinaah had to dig deep to overcome the US’s Francesca Corbett-Jennie Gai, who are ranked 34 rungs below them.
The Malaysians defeated the Americans 21-15, 20-22, 21-19 in a match that lasted 48 minutes at the Istora Senayan stadium in Jakarta.
Pearly-Thinaah, who were runners-up at last year’s Indonesia Masters, have beaten the Americans twice in as many meetings.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin also progressed to the last 16 by defeating American pair Chen Zhi Yi-Presley Smith 21-15, 21-17 in 30 minutes.
The Malaysians have beaten the world No 30 pair in all three of their encounters.
World 27 pair Nur Azriyn-Wee Kiong, meanwhile, shocked the 24th ranked Fang Chih-Fang Jen by winning 21-13, 21-18 in just 29 minutes.
Junior Malaysian men’s doubles pair Chia Wei Jie-Lwi Sheng Hao managed to push top Indonesian pair Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Reza Pahlevi Isfahani to three games before losing 18-21, 21-19, 10-21 in 53 minutes.
Also knocked out were Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi, who lost to Taiwan’s Lee Jhe Huei-Yang Po Hsuan 18-21, 15-21 in 29 minutes.
Earlier, Malaysia suffered a major setback when its top men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik were eliminated in the first round by a Danish pair.
