KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 — National women’s doubles pair Anna Ching Yik Cheong – Mei Xing Teoh gained sweet revenge when they stunned fifth seeds, Wakana Nagahara – Mayu Matsumoto of Japan, to reach the 2022 Malaysia Masters quarter-finals, tomorrow.
The world number 37 thoroughly dominated the game in both sets and just needed 38 minutes to send the Japanese pair with a 21 – 11, 21 – 15 victory.
The result meant that Anna-Mei Xing had successfully avenged their heartbreaking 2022 Malaysia Open quarter-finals exit last week, losing 15 – 21, 21 – 23 to the same pair.
Speaking after the match, Mei Xing said the win was truly unbelievable as they did not expect to overcome Matsumoto – Nagahara before they stepped into the court
“We were relieved to see that a series of unforced errors by the opponents kind of helped us and we managed to capitalise on the situation, kept up good momentum and finally won the game.
“We lost to them last week because our mental state was not strong enough but now we can feel that we can handle the pressure much better,” she told reporters at the Axiata Arena, here, today.
Anna – Mei Xing will have a chance to produce an upset tomorrow as they will face world number 11, Jeong Na Eun – Kim Hye Jeong from Korea.
The South Korean pair progressed to the next round after they were made to slog before emerging victorious against Febby Valencia Dwijayanti Gani – Ribka Sugiarto from Indonesia, 23 – 25, 21 – 17, 21 – 18.
Commenting on tomorrow’s action, Mei Xing did not set any expectations but hoped they would give their best to storm into the semis.
National number one women’s doubles pair, Pearly Tan – M Thinaah gave further cheer to home fans as they pulled off an upset against fourth-seeded Yuki Fukushima – Sayaka Hirota of Japan.
Pearly – Thinaah produced a sizzling display to beat the three-time World Championships runners-up after posting a straight-sets victory, 21 – 14, 21 – 19.
Although they stunned the current world number two, Thinaah, however, said there is still room for improvement especially in being calmer and minimising silly mistakes in the last eight tomorrow.
The unseeded Pearly – Thinaah will be up against newly-crowned Malaysia Open champions Apriyani Rahayu – Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti.
The Indonesians edged the Stoeva sisters from Bulgaria, Gabriela Stoeva – Stefani Stoeva, 21 – 18, 21 – 17.
— Bernama
