PETALING JAYA: National women’s doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M Thinaah got off to a great start at the World Tour Finals today with a brilliant straight-game victory over China’s Jia Yi Fan-Zhang Shu Xian in their first Group A tie.
The top seeded Malaysians were in complete control, defeating the Chinese pair 21-17, 21-11 in 46 minutes in front of their home crowd at the Olympics Sports Centre Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China.
The Chinese pair have always been difficult opponents for Pearly-Thinaah – this is only the second time that the Malaysians have beaten them in their six encounters so far.
Pearly-Thinaah take on Japan’s Kie Nakanishi-Rin Iwanaga in their second group tie tomorrow, where a win will assure the Malaysians of a semi-final berth in the prestigious championship.
Their final group match on Friday will be against another Japanese pair, Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto, who defeated Kie-Rin 21-14, 21-14 earlier today.