KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 — The national women’s doubles pair of M. Thinaah and Pearly Tan Koong Le, pulled off an upset by downing world number ninth pair Chang Ye Na and Kim Hye Rin in the opening round of Toyota Thailand Open Badminton Tournament in Bangkok, today.
Thinaah and Tan, who were unseeded, displayed a scintillating performance by bouncing back from a set down to secure a 16-21, 21-15 and 27-25 victory against the South Korean pair at the Impact Arena.
Earlier, they crashed out of the Yonex Thailand Open after losing 15-21 and 12-21 to the eventual winners, Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu of Indonesia in the quarter-finals at the same venue.
“Last week was our first Super 1000 event, so we learned our lessons. We tried to do better and we were well prepared.
“Before the game we didn’t think too much. We weren’t expected to win, so we just wanted to play our game and that helped us put in our best performance,” Thinaah was quoted as saying in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) website, www.bwfbadminton.com.
The Malaysians pair will meet Vimala Heriau and Margot Lambert in the second round tomorrow after the unheralded French pair overpowered Laksika Kanlaha and Atitaya Povanon of Thailand 22-20 and 23-21 in another opening round match.
National women’s doubles pair Chow Mei Kuan and Lee Meng Yean also booked their spot in the next round by defeating unseeded Canadian pair Rachel Honderich and Kristen Tsai, winning 21-17 and 21-16.
First round results:
(Notes: Malaysians unless stated; [ ] denotes seeding)
Men’s Singles:
Liew Daren bt B. Sai Praneeth (IND) (Daren advanced to the next round after Praneeth withdrew on being tested positive for Covid-19)
Women’s Doubles:
Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean bt Rachel Honderich-Kristen Tsai (CAN) 21-17, 21-16
M.Thinaah-Pearly Tan Koong Le bt [6] Chang Ye Na-Kim Hye Rin (KOR) 16-21, 21-15, 27-25
Mixed Doubles:
Hoo Pang Ron-Cheah Yee See bt Reddy B. Sumeeth-Reddy N. Sikki (IND) 21-14, 18-21, 21-13
[7] Marcus Ellis-Lauren Smith (ENG) bt Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing 14-21, 21-15, 21-19 — Bernama
