Pearly-Thinaah shine in mixed day for Malaysian shuttlers at Asian Games

 The women’s doubles pair beat Indonesia’s world No 9 duo Rachel Rose-Febi Setianingrum in straight games in the opening round.

Pearly Tan-M Thinaah won their women’s doubles opening match, but husband-and-wife duo Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai were defeated by their Indian rivals in the mixed doubles event. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:

National women’s doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M Thinaah showed signs of returning to their old form when they beat top Indonesian pair Rachel Rose-Febi Setianingrum in the opening day of the individual events at the Asian Games in Japan.

Pearly-Thinaah, ranked world No 5, who had previously beaten the Indonesian duo in the SEA Games final in June, won 21-13, 21- 11 at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium in Aichi.

They will face either South Korea’s Kim Jin Hyang-Yu Mi Song or the Thai pair of Mijad Hathaithip-Tungkasatan Napapakorn in the next round.

In the men’s doubles, the scratch pair of Aaron Chia-Tee Kai Wun won their match this evening against an unknown pair from Tajikistan, Odilzhon Abdurakhimov-Dzhumaboi Saidov, 21-6, 21-6.

Their real test will be in the next round when they face world No 1 pair and top seeds Kim Won Ho-Seo Seung Jae of South Korea.

Earlier, Malaysia suffered a setback in the mixed doubles event when both pairs lost in the second round this evening after winning their opening matches in the morning.

Husband-and-wife duo Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai lost to India’s Dhruv Kapila-Tanisha Crasto 20-22, 22-24, while the scratch pair of Chen Tang Jie-Cheng Su Yin went down to South Korea’s world No 25 pair, Kim Jae-hyun-Jang Ha-jeong, 16-21, 22-20, 19-21.

Tang Jie-Su Yin saved four match points in the second game to force a decider.

Men’s singles player Justin Hoh moved into the second round after his Thai opponent, Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul, gave him a walkover to focus on his doubles match later in the day.

Malaysia’s top men’s singles player, Leong Jun Hao, received a first-round bye and is expected to breeze through his second round match against Mongolia’s Batdavaa Munkhbat tomorrow.

Meanwhile, men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani brushed aside Taiwan’s Chiu Hsiang Chieh-Wang Chi Lin 21-17, 21-14 in the opening round.

The duo, whom Malaysia is banking on for a medal, will take on Japan’s top pair Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi in their next match. - FMT