KUALA LUMPUR: Women's doubles Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah continued their impressive form by checking into the third round of badminton's World Championships in Tokyo today.
The Malaysian duo, who are ranked world No 11, arrived in Tokyo high on confidence after a two-gold showing at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games earlier this month.
Having established themselves as "consistent contenders" on the elite stage, the 10th seeds showed no signs of slowing down with an impressive 21-8, 21-17 win over India's Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand Pullela in the second round at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.
Having beaten the world No 37 Indian pair twice during the Commonwealth Games, Pearly-Thinaah played true to their strength for the win.
The pair's best results on the BWF World Tour this year were reaching the semi-finals at the Thailand Open, Indonesia Masters and Malaysian Masters.
However, they face a tough challenge in the third round as they are likely to meet fifth seeds Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida of Japan.
The world No 5 have proven to be a tough nut for Pearly-Thinaah to crack, having beaten the Malaysians in all of their previous five meetings.
Meanwhile Japan's second seeds and three-time world championships silver medallists Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota withdrew from the competition, citing injury. Their withdrawal allowed Singapore's Jin Yujia-Crystal Wong a free pass into the third round.
In mixed doubles, Malaysia's independent pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie joined compatriots Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing in the third round after a comprehensive second round victory.
The 11th seeds kept their focus to beat England's Gregory Mairs-Jenny Moore 21-13, 21-18, and will meet seventh seeds Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue of France next.