Ichinomiya:Ichinomiya City Malaysian badminton players made a strong start in the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, with both women's and men's doubles pairs achieving victories in their opening matches.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the national women's doubles team, Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah, ranked world No. 5, had a commanding win against Indonesia's Rachel Allessya Rose and Febi Setianingrum with scores of 21-13, 21-11. They will face Thailand's Hathaithip Mijad and Napapakorn Tungkasatan in the next round. Meanwhile, Malaysia's other women's doubles pair, Noraqilah Maisarah and Low Zi Yu, were eliminated after a 10-21, 13-21 defeat to Taiwan's Hsu Yin Hui and Lin Jhih Yun.

In the men's doubles category, Aaron Chia and Tee Kai Wun defeated Tajikistan's Odilzhon Abdurakhimov and Dzhumaboi Saidov, securing a 21-6, 21-6 victory. They will face a challenging second round against world No. 1 Kim Won Ho and Seo Sung Jae from South Korea. Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin Mohd Rumsani also advanced, winning against Taiwan€š¬…¡¬€š¬…¾¢s Chiu Hsiang Chieh and Wang Chi Lin 21-17, 21-14, and will next compete against Japan€š¬…¡¬€š¬…¾¢s world No. 9 Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi.

Malaysia did not fare as well in mixed doubles, as both pairs were eliminated in the first round. Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Lai lost narrowly to India€š¬…¡¬€š¬…¾¢s Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto 20-22, 22-24, while Chen Tang Jie and Chen Su Yin were defeated by South Korea's Kim Jae Hyeon and Jang Ha Jeong 16-21, 22-20, 19-21.