Strong comeback: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah won their first match at the Korean Open after missing the Indonesian and Singaporean Opens.
PETALING JAYA: Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah are on a smashing return.
Pearly, who has been certified as having the fastest badminton smash by the Guinness World Records, made a winning start to competition after returning from an elbow injury.
The national women’s doubles shuttler and M. Thinaah dropped the second game against Japan’s Rui Hirokami-Yuna Kato but managed to recover to win 21-17, 15-21, 21-15 in the first round of the Korean Open at the Jinnam Stadium in Yeosu yesterday.
Pearly-Thinaah were making their return after the former’s injury had forced them to withdraw from the Singapore and Indonesian Opens last month.
National doubles coach Hoon Thien How was satisfied with the duo’s win but felt there is still room for improvement.
“Pearly-Thinaah’s performance was satisfactory considering that this is their first tournament after a while,” said Thien How.
“But they have not reached top gear yet and hopefully they can do even better in the next round.”
Pearly-Thinaah, who are currently ranked No. 11 in the world, face a tough task in the second round as they take on China’s world No. 1 Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan.
The former have never beaten the Chinese pair before, losing all three of their past meetings.
Yonex have confirmed that Pearly achieved the fastest smash by a female shuttler in a controlled environment in April, recording an amazing 565km/h with her smash, which is quicker than the top speed of 372.6km/h by a Formula 1 car.
Meanwhile, newly crowned national champions Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien suffered an early exit after going down 10-21, 10-21 to Japan’s Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara.
In the men’s doubles, Taiwan Open champions Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun also lost 14-21, 17-21 to home pair Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae.
It was the second defeat to the world No. 12 Koreans for world No. 24 Wei Chong-Kai Wun after suffering the same fate in the Malaysian Masters final in May.
There was some good news in the women’s singles when K. Letshanaa made it past the qualifying round with a 21-8, 21-13 victory over Israel’s Katsiaryna Zablotskaya.
World No. 73 Letshanaa, who is making her World Tour debut, will next meet fellow qualifier and world No. 70 Huang Ching-ping of Taiwan in the first round of the tournament proper.
