KUALA LUMPUR: Here we go again.
The stage is set for a familiar showdown as national women’s doubles pair, Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, booked a rematch of the SEA Games Thailand 2025 final against Indonesia’s Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Meilysa Trias Puspitasari in the second round of the Malaysia Open 2026 here tomorrow (Thursday).
The second seeds Pearly-Thinaah kicked off the campaign in convincing fashion as they cruised past Rutaparna Panda-Swetaparna Panda of India 21-11, 21-9 in 30-minutes at the Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil, today.
Despite holding an unblemished 4-0 record against the Indonesian pair, Pearly cautioned that past results would count for little in tomorrow’s encounter.
“We have to prepare physically and mentally well, rest and eat well and try to focus for tomorrow’s match,” she told reporters in a post-match interview at the mixed zone here.
The 2025 World Championships runners-up proved their mettle just last month when they delivered Malaysia’s sole badminton gold medal at the SEA Games Thailand 2025, prevailing over the same opponents 21-16, 19-21, 21-17 in a gripping final.
More importantly, today’s victory ended a frustrating run at the Malaysia Open, with the world number two pair finally advancing beyond the opening round after three consecutive opening round exits.
Pearly admitted the relief of making it into the second round for the first time since their Malaysia Open debut in 2022, describing the moment as especially meaningful in front of the home fans.
“We were also disappointed that we couldn’t give fans a chance to see us in the second round (of the previous three editions). So this year we really focused on our gameplay and that really helped a lot,” she said.
Thinaah, meanwhile, hopes to keep the momentum going and perform stronger as they bid to reach the quarterfinals of the Malaysia Open for the first time in their career.
Earlier, world number 60 Febriana-Meilysa booked their second-round spot after defeating India’s Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand Pullela 21-9, 21-23, 21-19.
The Malaysia Open 2026 will run until Jan 11. – BERNAMA
