Pearly-Thinaah were a game down and had to dig deep into their reserves to win 20-22, 21-16, 22-20 in the 71-minute match against Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Meilysa Trias Puspitasari at the Shenzhen Arena this evening.

The Indonesians were playing together for only the second time after they split with their regular partners to try out new combinations.

They also lost to Pearly-Thinaah in the second round of the Hong Kong Open last week.

Pei Kee-Mei Xing were on the cusp of victory against world No 9 Chinese pair Li Yi Jing-Luo Xu Min after taking a 14-8 lead in the rubber game.

However, the home pair, backed by a vociferous crowd, turned the tide to beat the world No 19 Malaysians 21-19, 12-21, 21-19 in a match that lasted 64 minutes.

Pearly-Thinaah will meet Francesca Corbett-Jennie Lai from the US in the second round tomorrow.

A third Malaysian pair – Carmen Ting-Ong Xin Yee – were the surprise qualifiers for the second round when they defeated India’s Rutaparna Panda-Swetaparna Panda 21-8, 21-13 in 28 minutes. The Indian pair are ranked two notches above the Malaysians at No 34.

Carmen-Xin Yee will meet Taiwan’s Hu Ling Fang-Jheng Yu Chieh or South Korea’s Baek Ha Na-Lee So Hee in the second round tomorrow.

In the men’s doubles event, top Malaysian pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik narrowly defeated Taiwan’s Liu Kuang Heng and Yang Po Han in a three-game match.

The world No 2 pair took about an hour to overcome their opponents, ranked 20 places below them, 21-23, 21-19, 21-19.

They will next face England’s Ben Lane and Sean Vendy, with a chance to avenge their defeat to the duo at last week’s Hong Kong Open.