KUALA LUMPUR: Women's pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah were lured into following their opponents' game, which led to their defeat to Indonesia's women's new pairing of Lanny Tria Mayasari-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti at the Malaysia Open today.
World No. 6 Pearly-Thinaah started the match well after winning a tight first game 21-19 at the Axiata Arena.
However, they dropped the next two games for a 21-19, 14-21, 13-21 defeat in 63 minutes.
Thinaah said she and Pearly were familiar with both players' styles when they played with their previous partners, but as a new pair, the Malaysians did not have much information on their gameplay.
"They have unpredictable shots, and that disturbed our gameplay as well," said Thinaah.
Pearly added: "Their smash was hard to read and it really threw us off. That cost us today."
Thinaah expressed her appreciation to the fans who attended today, saying, "Thank you for coming. I'm sorry that we could not win, but we still appreciate your support, and hopefully, the fans will keep supporting us."
Pearly-Thinaah became the seventh Malaysian pair to exit the first round on the first day of the Malaysia Open.
They follow in the footsteps of mixed doubles Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien, Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin, Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing, men's singles Leong Jun Hao, men's doubles Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani and women's doubles Go Pei Kee-Teoh Mei Xing.