National men’s doubles pair Aaron Thai-Kang Khai Xing attributed playing without pressure helped them secure one of the biggest upsets at the ongoing All-England.

The young Malaysian pair, featuring in Birmingham on their All-England debut, stunned India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty 23-21, 21-12 in 42-minutes of fearless display.

The upset of the world number four Indians is the best result to date for the 2024 World Junior champions.

“This is our first ever outing at the All-England, and we came out to just enjoy the match and play without any pressure. We stuck to our gameplan and just played it point by point,” they explained.

The world number 33 Malaysians earned their first major senior victory in incredible fashion.

They trailed Satwiksairaj-Shetty 6-11 in the opening game, before taking the lead and later conceded three match points at 20-18 and 21-20.

The pair eventually held their nerves to secure the lead.

Thai-Kang increased the tempo in the second game, ultimately forcing their increasingly pressured opponents into making more unforced errors for a straightforward 21-12 win.

The Malaysians’ reward is a tie against Chinese pair Chen Bo Yang-Liu Yi in the second round on Thursday.

Wednesday marked a good day at the office for the Malaysian contingent, with seven out of 10 representatives marching into the second round.

They included Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin, Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, Junaidi Arif-Yap Roy King, Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah and Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai.