Chance for Pearly-Thinaah to get even with their home spoilers
National women's doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah in action against China's Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian in the semi-final match of Malaysian Masters at Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil on Saturday. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Women's doubles pair Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah will have a chance to avenge their Malaysian Masters defeat when they face China's Jia Yifan and Zhang Shuxian once again in the Singapore Open quarter-finals today.
Yifan, the reigning Olympic champion and four-time world champion with Chen Qingchen, has formed a formidable partnership with Shuxian. The Chinese duo dashed Pearly-Thinaah's hopes of reaching the Malaysian Masters final last week with a hard-fought 21-16, 15-21, 21-14 win in the semi-finals.
Determined to turn the tables on their rivals, Pearly and Thinaah are eyeing redemption as they battle once more for a place in the last four.
The world No. 4 pair had no trouble in their second-round outing yesterday, eliminating Japan's All-England runners-up Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto with a 25-23, 21-18 victory.
'In the second game, I made quite a few mistakes that gave away easy points, but thankfully my partner was there to cover me. She really did a lot to support me,' said Pearly.
'The first game was very intense and crucial. We were leading at first, and though they caught up, we managed to close it out.'
Their progress to the quarter-finals is already a step forward, especially considering their previous struggles at the Singapore Open. Last year, Pearly-Thinaah were shown the exit in the first round by China's Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning, and the year before that, they also fell at the first hurdle to Japan's Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi.
Worse still, Pearly suffered an injury during the opening set in the 2022 edition, forcing the duo to withdraw.
'I think this is a small breakthrough for us, but at the same time, we don't want the past to affect how we play today or in the coming matches. We just want to stay focused and prepared for what's ahead,' said Thinaah.
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