KUALA LUMPUR – Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah’s march to the quarter-finals of the China Open was halted by Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota today.
The Malaysian women’s doubles duo had a tough task at hand taking on the world number four pair from Japan at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium in Changzhou, China.
Malaysia’s world number 11 pair lost to the World Championships quarter-finalists 21-16, 21-16.
In the first round on Tuesday, the Malaysians took on Debora Jille-Cheryl Seinen from the Netherlands and won 17-21, 21-17, 21-10.
Pearly and Thinaah’s next assignment will be the Hong Kong Open, which will run from September 12 to 17.
Hopes for Malaysia’s women’s doubles of booking a quarter-final spot were later ended after world number 249 Anna Cheong-Teoh Mei Xing bowed out to Japan’s 13th-ranked Rena Miyaura-Ayako Sakuramoto in straight sets 21-11, 21-18, in just 34 minutes.
Also stopped short in the second round were 35th-ranked Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien after losing to 2nd-ranked South Koreans Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee 21-17, 21-14, in 45 minutes. — September 7, 2023