TAN KIAN MENG and Lai Pei Jing defeated Olympic gold medallists Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir at the Australian Open on Wednesday.

The Malaysian mixed doubles pair, who lost to the Indonesians at the Indonesian Open last week, emerged victorious in straight sets 21-17 and 21-16 in 39 minutes.

Kian Meng-Pei Jing will next face Japanese pair Yugo Kobayashi-Misaki Matsutomo, who beat Australia's Hugo Lueng-Verena Chim 21-17 and 21-14.

Other Malaysian doubles shuttlers also started their Australian Open campaigns well at the time of writing.

Mixed doubles players Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See overcame Japanese pair Takuro Hoki-Sayaka Hirota, while Tan Boon Heong teamed up with Indonesian player Hendra Setiawan to beat India's Alwin Francis-Tarun Kona in men's doubles.