KUALA LUMPUR: National shuttlers were in their element at the Paris Olympics today but there was not much for Malaysian fans to cheer about in other sports.
In badminton, women's doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah delivered an upset victory over Japan's Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara in their Group A encounter at Porte de la Chapelle Arena.
Pearly-Thinaah showed great determination and character to come from behind and scalp the two-time world champions 18-21, 21-15, 21-16.
It was a match that Pearly-Thinaah needed to win having lost their opening match to China's World No. 1 Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan yesterday.
Fan favourite Lee Zii Jia left no room for drama as he opened his men's singles campaign with a straightforward 21-14, 21-12 win over Sri Lanka's Viren Nettasinghe in Group G.
He will next face Spain's Pablo Abian on Wednesday.
Men's doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik booked their spot in the quarterfinals after downing Canada's world No. 32 Nyl Yakura-Adam Dong 21-10, 21-15 in Group A.
Mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei also secured their berth in the last-eight after beating American duo Vinson Chiu-Jennie Gai to win 21-15, 24-22 in Group D.
In archery, Malaysia's Ariana Nur Dania Mohamad Zairi, Syaqiera Masyahikh and Nurul Azreena Mohd Fazil lost 5-3 to Indonesia in the women's team event 1/8 elimination round.
The trio will next compete in the individual event which begins on Tuesday.
In swimming, youngster Tan Rouxin, 18, won her heat but it was not enough to see her advance in the women's 100m breaststroke event.
Her one minute and 12.50 seconds timing was only enough to place her 33rd from 37 swimmers in the preliminaries and thus she missed the top-16 cut for the semi-finals.
Malaysia's campaign in the swimming competition has thus come to an end.
Khiew Hoe Yean, the only other Malaysian swimmer in Paris, competed in the men's 400m freestyle yesterday and also did not make it past the preliminaries.
Only the shuttlers will see action in Paris tomorrow.
RESULTS:
Archery
Women's team event, 1/8 elimination round: Indonesia def Malaysia 5-3
Badminton
Men's singles, Group G: Lee Zii Jia def Viren Nettasinghe (LKA) 21-14, 21-12
Men's doubles, Group A: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik def Adam Dong-Nyl Yakura (CAN) 21-10, 21-15
Women's doubles, Group A: Pearly Tan-M Thinaah def Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara (JPN) 18-21, 21-15, 21-16
Mixed doubles, Group D: Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei def Vinson Chiu-Jennie Gai (USA) 21-15, 24-22
Swimming
Women's 100m breaststroke preliminaries: Tan Rouxin 1:12.50s (No. 33), did not advance to semi-finals.
Malaysians in action tomorrow (Jul 29)
Badminton
Mixed doubles, Group D: Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei vs Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping (Chn)
Women's singles, Group H: Goh Jin Wei v Johanita Scholtz (Rsa)