KUALA LUMPUR: Rachel Arnold outplayed her national teammate, Ainaa Amani, to reach the quarter-finals of the US$64,000 Malaysia Cup at the Curve Mall in Petaling Jaya today.
World No. 19 and China Open champion Rachel won 11-7, 11-4, 11-5 in 24 minutes.
Third seed Rachel will face the winner of the match between fifth seed Katie Maliff of England and Marta Dominguez of Spain for a place in the semi-finals.
The 28-year-old Rachel said the pressure was always there when "you are playing your teammate."
"I started off well but lost a bit of focus. I went into the match with confidence and was glad to win 3-0."
In the men's second round, India's world No. 58 Abhay Singh upset Qatar's world No. 27 Abdulla Al-Tamimi 11-8, 7-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5 to set up a quarter-final clash against compatriot Velavan Senthilkumar.
World No. 53 Velavan upset world No. 40 Farkas Balazs of Hungary 11-6, 11-6, 11-7.
Results (Malaysians unless stated)
Men's second round: Velavan Senthilkumar (Ind) b Farkas Balazs (Hun) 11-6, 11-6, 11-7; Abhay Singh (Ind) bt Abdulla Al-Tamimi (Qat) 11-8, 7-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5.
Women's second round: Kenzy Ayman (Egy) bt Ka Yi Lee (Hkg) 11-5, 11-5, 11-8; Amina Orfi (Egy)bt Jessica Turnbull (Aus) 11-4, 11-3, 11-5; Rachel Arnold bt Ainaa Amani 11-7, 11-4, 11-5.