Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah ended a three-year first-round exit record at the Malaysia Open when the national women’s pair easily beat their Indian opponents in straight games on Tuesday.

Tan-Thinaah had exited this Super 1000 event in the opening rounds in 2023, 2024 and 2025, but that unwanted record ended after just 30-minutes when they beat Rutaparna Panda-Swetaparna Panda 21-11, 21-9.

The world number two pair were relieved to finally end their jinx.

“We have not performed well in front of our fans in the last three years, and it was good to finally win our opening match. Our next opponents will be challenging as we faced them in the SEA Games final.

“We will eat, rest and recover well ahead of tomorrow,” they said.

Tan-Thinaah will take on Indonesian pair Febriana Dwipuji-Meilya Trias whom they beat in three close games to claim the SEA Games gold medal last month.

Leong Jun Hao also gave the strong turnout crowd at the Axiata Arena a dominant victory, as the national men’s singles shuttler beat China’s Wang Zheng Xin 21-17, 21-17.

The 26-year-old was glad to see Tey Seu Bock back in his corner as he got his year off to a winning start.

“Coach Seu Bock used to coach me before and he took care of us for many years. He knows my style and it’s good to have him back,” said Leong, who will either face Lee Chia-hao or Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie.

Other matches saw national men’s pair Junaidi Arif-Yap Roy King beat Choi Sol-gyu-Goh V Shem 22-20, 21-12, while Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik also came through after a 21-11, 21-19 win over American pair Chen Zhi Yi-Presley Smith.

Junaidi-Yap will next face India’s top pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty, while Chia-Soh will take on either a Chinese Taipei or Chinese pair.