Pearly-Thinaah squeeze into quarter-finals at Asia meet

 The world No 2 pair were pushed to the limit by the 12th-ranked Taiwanese duo Hsu Yin Hui–Lin Jhih Yun before sealing a hard-fought three-game victory.

Pearly Tan-M Thinaah beat Taiwan’s Hsu Yin Hui-Lin Jhih Yun 21-19, 19-21, 25-23 in the second round of the Badminton Asia Championships at the Olympic Sports Centre in Ningbo, China. (EPA Images pic)

PETALING JAYA:

 National women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M Thinaah booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Badminton Asia Championships today, but only after being stretched to the limit by a Taiwanese pair.

The Malaysian duo even saved two match points in a tense finish to clinch their second-round victory.

The world No 2 pair defeated world No 12 Hsu Yin Hui-Lin Jhih Yun 21-19, 19-21, 25-23 in 67 minutes at the Olympic Sports Centre in Ningbo, China.

It was Pearly-Thinaah’s third win over their opponents in as many meetings.

They are now aiming for a second title this year after lifting the Indonesia Masters crown in January.

In the quarter-finals, they will face either Japanese duo Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara or China’s Li Yi Jing-Luo Xu Min.

There will be three Malaysian representatives in the last-16 tomorrow. The other two are men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and reigning world mixed doubles champions Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei.

Another Malaysian women’s doubles pair, Carmen Ting-Ong Xin Yee, put up a strong fight but lost to top Japanese pair Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi.

The Japanese duo won 21-18, 21-14 in 52 minutes. - FMT