Malaysia Open: Daren to face defending champ Axelsen as Pearly-Thinaah suffer early exit

Tan-Thinaah turned in a flat performance against Bulgarian sisters Gabriela-Stefani Stoeva as they lost 19-21, 14-21.

Hopes were riding high on the pair to perform on home soil, especially on the back of their French Open victory last October.

But the world number six combination had not lived up to expectations since that triumph, and lost all their matches at the World Tour Finals in December to crash out at the group stage.

The latest setback showed Tan-Thinaah's struggle to regain their groove, as their error-riddled game paved the way for the Bulgarian victory.

“It was not a good match, our strategy and gameplan did not work. They pressured us, and we did not do our part well in that aspect. The only good thing is that we get a chance to quickly put this defeat aside ahead of the next tournament in a week,” they said.

It was not all doom and gloom for the home fans as Liew rolled back the years with a fighting performance to oust Toma Junior Popov 21-15, 14-21, 21-17 in an hour-long encounter.

The veteran Malaysian, however, suffered a calf injury against his French opponent, and may have to pull out.

“If it continues to hurt, I may have to pull out. I’m hoping to recover in time,” said Liew, who added he would also give Lee Zii Jia some advice on the court conditions when he takes on Kodai Naraoka on Wednesday.

If he recovers in time, Liew faces Axelsen, who went a game down before he overcame national team-mate Rasmus Gemke 17-21, 21-14, 21-12.

Apart from Tan-Thinaah, the rest of the Malaysian contingent all won their respective matches.

The new pairing of Hoo Pang Ron-Teoh Mei Xing did well to oust Japan’s Kyohei Yamashita-Naru Shinoya 21-11, 15-21, 21-19 in the mixed doubles first round.

They next face French pair Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue.

Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai also won in straight games to book a meeting with face top seeds Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong on Thursday.

The men’s doubles saw Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi battle to three games before they took down China’s Ren Xiang Yu-Tan Qiang 21-13, 20-22, 21-15.

They next play Chinese Taipei pair Lu Ching Yao-Yang Po Han in the second round.