Pearly-Thinaah stay sharp with commanding opening win in Jakarta

New Straits Times

3 days ago

KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 4 Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah showed no signs of fatigue as they kicked off their fourth consecutive week of competition with a confident first-round victory at the Indonesia Open on Wednesday.
Pearly-Thinaah barely broke a sweat against world No. 15 Sung Shuo Yun-Yu Chien Hui of Taiwan, sealing a 21-16, 21-17 win in just 41 minutes at Istora Senayan in Jakarta.
The match marked their second win over the Taiwanese pair, having also beaten them in the opening round of the same tournament last year.
Despite the result, Thinaah admitted that they weren't fully satisfied with their performance.
"To be honest, we're not really happy with today's performance," she said.
"It's a new court for us — this year it's a Victor court and the shuttle feels a bit different from what we expected.
"But we tried to do what we could, and we also discussed it among ourselves and with the coaches. Tomorrow, we'll be more prepared and aim to do better."
Pearly shared that the distinctive blue court surface was something new but not a major issue.
"Of course, it's a bit different. It's our first time playing on a blue surface," she said.
"But it didn't affect us much — maybe just some of our own mistakes that gave away easy points."
The Malaysian pair have been on a grueling run of competitions, beginning with their title-winning campaign at the Thailand Open, followed by a semi-final showing at the Malaysia Masters and a quarter-final finish at last week's Singapore Open.
Still, Pearly stressed the importance of mental focus and resilience.
"I think everyone is tired, not just us," she said.
"But we always remind each other to stay focused, and we just want to keep fighting for every match."
They will next face Indonesia's world No. 20 Lanny Tria Mayasari-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti for a place in the quarter-finals.
Lanny-Siti denied an all-Malaysian second-round clash when they overcame world No. 23 Go Pei Kee-Teoh Mei Xing 19-21, 21-16, 21-19.
There was also cause for celebration for world No. 47 Carmen Ting-Ong Xin Yee, who clinched their first-ever win at a prestigious Super 1000 event.
The Malaysian pair battled back from a game down to defeat Indonesia's world No. 59 Isyana Syahira Meida-Rinjani Kwinara Nastine 10-21, 21-14, 21-17.
In the men's doubles, world No. 32 Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi put up a strong fight against China's world No. 4 Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang but fell just short, losing 23-21, 22-20.
Meanwhile, world No. 39 Haikal Nazri-Choong Hon Jian were outplayed by former world champions Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi, going down 21-13, 21-9 in just 29 minutes.