Pearly-Thinaah bounce back with dominant first round win in New Delhi

KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 2 Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah underlined their intention to bounce back from last week's disastrous outing at Malaysia Open with a superb first round win at the India Open on Wednesday.

Pearly-Thinaah were in a fiery form as they crushed India's world No. 49 Kavipriya Selvam-Simran Singhi 21-18, 21-6 at Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in New Delhi.

Reflecting on the win, Thinaah said there is still room for improvement despite the positive start.

"There are still things we need to work on, but overall it was a good performance from both of us," she said.

"After this, we'll get a good rest and sit down to discuss what we can do better for tomorrow's match."

Thinaah highlighted the importance of consistency and communication.

"Mainly our shot quality and also our communication, especially when things are not going smoothly," she said.

"These are the main areas we need to focus on."

Pearly-Thinaah will want to capitalise on their favourable draw in the bottom half as their path looks clear at least until the semi-finals.

They are seeking to respond to their second round exit at the Malaysia Open to ensure they don't fail to get past the last 16 two tournaments in succession.

The last time they did was two years ago, when they lost in the Malaysia Open opener, followed by a second round exit at India Open.

Pearly-Thinaah will surely take aim at the India Open title, as they had previously made it to the semi-finals twice, in 2023 and last year.

Up next for them are against French world No. 23 duo Margot Lambert-Camille Pognante.

Unfortunately, rising pair Carmen Ting-Ong Xin Yee are still left searching for their first win of the year.

The world No. 25 went down 21-17, 21-15 to Taiwan's Hsieh Pei Shan-Hung En Tzu, failing to repeat their stunning win against the world No. 9 recorded during the Kumamoto Masters in Japan in November.

Carmen-Xin Yee were also first round casualties on home soil last week.