Badminton

Pearly-Thinaah book quarter-final spot at India Open

KUALA LUMPUR: Women's badminton doubles duo Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah are fast proving their first-round exit at the Petronas Malaysian Open last week was just a blip after marching into the India Open quarter-finals today.

The world No 8 pair overcame early resistance from Taiwan's Lee Chia Hsin-Teng Chun Hsun before emerging 21-14, 16-21, 21-6 winners in their second round encounter at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in New Delhi.

It was the first time the French Open and Commonwealth Games gold medallists had faced Chia Hsin-Chun Hsun, who are world No 32.

Pearly-Thinaah, who had defeated India's Ashwini Bhat-Shika Gautan yesterday, believe there is still room for improvement in their game.

"We are happy with the win but there are still plenty of things that we need to improve," said Thinaah.

Pearly-Thinaah will next play either third seeds Kim So Yeong-Kong Hee Yong (South Korea) or Japanese pair Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi in the quarter-finals tomorrow.

They suffered heartbreak at the Malaysia Open last week after unexpectedly crashing out in the first round to the Stoeva sisters Gabriela-Stefani (Bulgaria).

Pearly-Thinaah are expected to participate in the Indonesia Masters in Jakarta on Jan 24-29 after concluding their campaign in New Delhi.

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