Pearly-Thinaah can walk with heads held high after agonising loss in final

The Star

6 hours ago

PETALING JAYA: Women's doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah agonisingly missed out on the biggest title of their careers so far but they still had reasons to smile.
PETALING JAYA: Women's doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah agonisingly missed out on the biggest title of their careers so far but they still had reasons to smile.
The Malaysian duo battled valiantly against China's world No. 1 Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning before going down narrowly 25-23, 12-21, 19-21 in the Indonesian Open final at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta yesterday.
Despite missing out on the title, the world No. 4 pair achieved several personal milestones.
Pearly-Thinaah are expected to move up one rung to a career high No. 3 in the world after reaching their maiden World Tour Super 1000 final.
The duo are set to overtake current world No. 3 Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee from South Korea when the rankings list is officially updated tomorrow after the latter failed to defend their title in Indonesia.
Pearly-Thinaah can also be proud of their efforts as they had never even made it to the last four of a Super 1000 tourney before their feat in Istora.
In the final, the pair gave themselves hope of capturing the crown when they led 9-4 and 14-12 in the decider but could not hold on against their mighty opponents and heartbreakingly lost in an exhausting 87-minute battle.
It was Pearly-Thinaah's eighth defeat to Shengshu-Tan Ning in 11 meetings.
Pearly-Thinaah were playing in their fourth straight tournament but refused to blame their defeat on fatigue.
"We are disappointed. Towards the end, I made two mistakes. I rushed a bit," Pearly told the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
"This is what I still need to learn day by day, so I still need some time and I hope I can be better in the future.
"All four of us were really tired and it was point by point towards the end.
"Tiredness was not a big issue. I think it's the mindset. They were calmer than us while I made two silly mistakes. I need to learn from this''.
On the positives from the match, Thinaah said: "I think the main positive is the support that we gave each other throughout the match.
"We always tried to lift each other's spirits when we were leading and trailing."
Pearly-Thinaah's best achievement previously was capturing the Super 750 French Open in 2022.
After struggling with inconsistency in the past, the pair are slowly improving their form and growing in confidence.
Pearly-Thinaah have reached three finals so far this year after triumphing in the Thailand Open last month and finishing runners-up in the Indonesian Masters in January.
The duo also became the first Malaysians in the women's doubles to make it to the Indonesian Open final since Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty, who won the title in 2009.
Pearly-Thinaah will next have a well-earned break from competitions before looking to build on their positive showings in the back-to-back Japan Open (July 15-20) and China Open (July 22-27).