KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 — Rising women’s doubles pair Anna Cheong Ching Yik-Teoh Mei Xing’s fairy tale run in the 2022 Malaysia Open came to an end with their quarter-final loss at the hands of Japanese pair Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara.

The world number 44 Malaysian duo, put up a spirited fight against the world number six Japanese pair before ultimately losing 21-15, 23-21 in their 44-minute encounter at Axiata Arena.

Anna Cheong, 24, and Mei Xing, 25, started strong in both sets, but failed to capitalise on their early lead due to their inexperience.

Their defeat means that Malaysia has to wait yet another year to see if a local pair will emerge as champions in the women’s category after last being won by Teoh Siew Yong-Rosalind Singha Ang in 1964.

Nevertheless, Anna Cheong-Mei Xing can be proud of their showing at the tournament, after having stunned world number three South Koreans Lee So Hee-Shin Seung Chan in the second round, as they garner momentum to break into world’s top 30 by year’s end.

"We have improved in our performance, and not make that many unforced errors and can engage in long rallies, but it’s not enough. We need to be stronger mentally and stay focused, control the game and find ways to fight back,” Anna said after the match.

Meanwhile, Mei Xing admitted that their confidence has increased after their good showing in the Malaysia Open.

"Before this we didn’t have high confidence, we always think we are not good enough and can’t play with the high level players. But in this tournament, we see that we have enough ability to challenge with them, so this make us not give up and want to improve further,” she added.

The pair’s best achievement prior to this was winning the Syed Modi International title, a BWF Tour Super 300 event, at Lucknow, India in January. — Bernama