PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi confidently smashed into the second round but an elbow injury to Pearly Tan has raised concerns as she and M. Thinaah retired from their women’s doubles first-round match at the Singapore Open yesterday.
Pearly-Thinaah, who finished runners-up at the Malaysian Masters two weeks ago, were expected to continue their gallant run but misfortune struck when they were at the 11th point in the first game when Pearly dived to retrieve a shot from Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi of Japan.
Pearly was in discomfort as she appeared to have hurt her right elbow and it cost them the first game (13-21).
However, the Malaysian pair fought back in the second to win 21-17 but it was becoming too risky for Pearly to continue and she and Thinaah conceded the match while trailing 16-9 in the third game.
National women’s doubles coach Hoon Thien How said the initial diagnosis by the National Sports Institute (NSI) medical team did not show any serious injury.
“The early diagnosis by the NSI medical team showed Pearly overstretched her elbow and suffered a minor strain. Nothing major to worry about,” said Thien How.
“We will wait for another four or five days before deciding whether Pearly is fit to compete in the Indonesia Open (June 13-18).”
Thien How said Pearly and Thinaah will stay on with the team until a decision is made whether they will make the trip to Jakarta next week.
However, there is a strong possibility that the world No. 12 may skip the Indonesia Open to give Pearly sufficient time to recover from the injury as the Olympic qualifying campaign has just started.
Meanwhile, men’s doubles pair Yew Sin-Ee Yi continued their strong performance when they defeated Christo Popov-Toma Junior Popov of France 21-18, 21-13 to reach the second round.
They will play Indonesians Pramudya Kusumawaradana-Yeremia Rambitan, who defeated Danish veterans Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 12-21, 21-18, 21-19.
A good performance in Singapore will help Yew Sin-Ee Yi close the gap with top Malaysian pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, who are currently ranked fourth in the world.
Aaron-Wooi Yik will also try to ensure their ranking doesn’t drop further as they will be aiming for victory against former All England champions Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana of Indonesia in the second round.
Malaysian Masters runners-up Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun also have a difficult clash against world No. 3 Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang of China today.
In the mixed doubles, independent pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie fought back from a game down to beat Indonesia’s Rehan Naufal-Lisa Ayu 15-21, 21-18, 21-14 to move into the second round.
Soon Huat-Shevon, the world No. 8, will play Hong Kong’s Regiland Lee Chun Hei-Ng Tsz Yau, who beat Scottish pair Alexander Dunn-Julie Macpherson 21-14, 17-21, 21-11 yesterday.
However, Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing’s struggle continued after the independent pair lost 12-21, 21-14, 10-21 in the first round to Kim Won-ho-Jeong Na-eun of South Korea.
Meanwhile, BAM pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei also advanced to the second round after beating Japan’s Kyohei Yamashita-Naru Shinoya 21-19, 21-11.
