Pearly-Thinaah, who are world No 7, defeated the lower-ranked Japanese pair of Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto in straight games 21-16, 21-15.

They have played against each other three times now, with the Malaysians winning twice.

Despite the Japanese duo putting up a stubborn defence, Pearly-Thinaah led all the way to win the match in 36 minutes.

The other women’s doubles match involving a Malaysian pair saw Go Pei Kee-Teah Mei Xing going down to China’s Zhang Shu Xian-Jia Yi Fan without much of a fight. Pei Kee-Mei Xing lost 5-21, 13-21 in 31 minutes.

Earlier, top mixed doubles seeds Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei fell to the up-and-coming Thai pair of Supissara Paewsampran-Dechapol Puavaranukroh 21-8, 20-22, 18-21, despite having a match point in the second game and leading several times in the third.

The world No 2 Malaysians succumbed to the 13th ranked pair in 65 minutes. It was the third time that they had met, with the Thais coming out on top on all three occasions.

World No 4 pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai were also knocked out of the tournament, after losing their quarter-final match with Japan’s Natsu Saito-Hiroki Midorikawa 21-15, 21-9.

The husband-and-wife pair had no answer to the fast pace set by their younger opponents throughout the 29-minute match. It was their sixth encounter to date, with Soon Huat-Shevon winning four.

In another mixed doubles match, world No 18 pair Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin lost to scratch Indonesian pair Rinov Rivaldy-Lisa Ayu Kusumawati despite leading 18-14 in the decider.

In a match lasting 63 minutes, the Indonesian pair won 21-23, 21-11, 21-19 after being buoyed up by the home crowd.