World No 2 women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M Thinaah were given a scare before overcoming an unknown Japanese combination in the opener of the Kumamoto Masters in Japan today.
Pearly-Thinaah, who have secured a spot at the World Tour Finals next month, beat Aiso Mikoto-Niimi Momoha 21-18, 9-21, 21-17 in a match lasting 53 minutes.
The Malaysians are the top seeds in the Kumamoto Masters, which is a World Tour Super 500 championships.
Earlier, independent mixed doubles pair Jimmy Wong-Lai Pei Jing defeated higher-ranked Taiwanese duo Lu Ming Che-Hung En Tzu 21-19, 21-15 in the tournament being played at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium.
For Jimmy-Pei Jing, who have entered seven finals in World Tour second-tier events this year, this is their best performance in a Super 500 series.
They will face either New Zealand’s Edward Lau-Shaunna Li or Taiwan’s Ye Hong Wei-Nicole Gonzales Chan in the second round.
