KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 8 — “Can’t believe it,” that were the first words which came out of the young national mixed doubles pair, Man Wei Chong-Pearly Tan, who pulled off the biggest upset at the Malaysia Masters badminton championship when they stunned world number five, Praveen Jordan-Melati Daeva Oktavianti of Indonesia in the first round at Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil, here.

It was even sweeter for the world 89th ranked pair as the victory was made in their debut at a Super 500 status competition.

In today’s match, Wei Chong-Pearly needed just 27 minutes to crush the Philippines SEA Games gold medalists, 21-18, 21-13.

According to Pearly, after watching the Indonesian pair on video, she felt it was an uphill task for her and Wei Chong to win.

She admitted that she was a bit nervous but went down to the court without feeling any pressure and the calmness gave them the mood to showcase their true talent.

“We did not expect to win this match. My partner (Wei Chong) and I supported each other well while keeping cool. We just gave our best. We were nervous but when we entered the court, we didn’t think of anything else.

“I think we played well while our opponents were under great pressure and succumbed to errors,” said an ecstatic Pearly.

It was double joy for Pearly as she also made it to the second round of the women’s doubles competition with her partner, M. Thinaah after the duo defeated teammates Anna Cheong-Lim Chiew Sien 21-15, 21-10.

Meanwhile, Wei Chong was surprised with their triumph as they were only paired for specific tournaments by their coaches.

“I did not expect it since this is the first time we are playing in the (Super) 500. We just gave our best,” he said.

The pair will be facing another strong rival from Indonesia, Hafiz Faizal-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja, the world number nine mixed pair, in the second round tomorrow.

Earlier in the women’s doubles event, the new combination of Pearly-Thinaah was the ‘saviour’ of the national women’s camp when they advanced into the second round.

The duo, who were making their debut in the Super 500 competition was Malaysia’s only pair to survive the first round after Teoh Mei Xing-Yap Ling lost to Japanese duo, Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida, 19-21, 14-21.

“Although we are familiar with them, we prepared ourselves for the match. It was a very good game for us,” said the 21-year-old, adding that today’s victory gave them the motivation to play in the second round with home ground advantage.

The pair’s next task will be the tournament’s eighth seeds from Indonesia, Greysia Polii-Apriyani Rahayu, who earlier had to work hard to oust South Koreans, Baek Ha Na-Jung Kyung Eun, 21-17, 20-22, 23-21. — Bernama