Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong got off to a hesitant start in the World Championshops but eventually prevailed after being taken the distance by their opponents at the Wembley Arena.
The Malaysian won 21-6,22-20,21-15 in an encounter that hung in the balance until the middle of the deciding set.
Facing China's unsung pair of Liu Xialong/Qiu Zihan, the Malaysians were expected to breeze through without any problems. And it looked like it was going according to the script in the first set.
Koo/Tan raced to a 21-6 win in the first set without breaking into a sweat as their opponents kept making unforced errors.
The Malaysians were looking sharp, playing deceptive shots that often caught their opponents on the wrong foot and one would be forgiven to think that the second set was going to be a mere formality.
However as is always the case with Malaysian badminton, just when you think that things are going right, things are made difficult by the players themselves.
In the second set Koo/Tan were at sea for a long period, trailing 12-16 at one stage. The Chinese were not giving up and despite the lead being reduced to 18-16, the Chinese pair knew they had a chance.
Koo/Tan drew level to 19-19 but their opponents surged ahead to 20-19 after a lapse of concentration by the Malaysians as both left the shuttle for each other.
Though Koo/tan drew level, Liu/Qiu won the next two points to take the tie into the rubber.
The Malaysians raced to a 8-4 lead but allowed the Chinese pair to reduce the deficit to 7-9.
But a service into the net by Tan gave the Chinese pair a crucial point to be within one point of their opponents. However the Malaysians went 12-9 up and looked confident.
There was no looking back as they went on to seal the spot in the third round with a 21-15 win in the third.
But it was curtains for womens doubles pair of Chin Eei Hui/Wong Pei Tty, as they lost to Mizuki Fujii/Reika Kakiiwa 21-16,22-24,22-20 in a tie that could have gone either way.
