Latest news with #Thinaah


Free Malaysia Today
a day ago
- Sport
- Free Malaysia Today
Pearly-Thinaah move into China Open quarter-finals
Pearly Tan-M Thinaah were the runners-up at last week's Japan Open. (Bernama pic) PETALING JAYA : Malaysia's world No 3 women's doubles pair Pearly Tan-M Thinaah booked a quarter-final berth at the China Open but not before being made to work hard by the 99th ranked Japanese pair Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara. The more experienced Malaysian pair had to bring out their best before winning 21-17, 21-13 in their second round match at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium in Changzhou. Pearly-Thinaah took 38 minutes to overcome the Japanese pair who were only playing together for the fourth time in BWF World Tour championships. The Japanese pair met the Malaysians in the Thailand Open semi-finals for the first time in May and lost in straight games. Pearly-Thinaah will play the winners of the match between Indonesia's Fabriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi and Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto from Japan. No Malaysian women's doubles pair have ever made it to the China Open finals.


New Straits Times
a day ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Pearly-Thinaah's China Open run moves them closer to world No. 2
KUALA LUMPUR: Tired legs and a strong draught at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium did little to stop women's doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah from inching closer to a career-high world No. 2 ranking, as they booked their spot in the China Open quarter-finals on Thursday.. World No. 3 Pearly-Thinaah had to dig deep to overcome Japan's world No. 99 Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara 21-17, 21-13 in a 37-minute second-round clash in Changzhou. The Malaysians will officially leapfrog Japan's Chiharu Shida-Nami Matsuyama for the No. 2 spot next week if they reach the semi-finals. Thinaah admitted they weren't at their best following a physically demanding campaign at the Japan Open last week. "Last week definitely affected us physically, but we're trying to keep our confidence level high," said Thinaah. "The draught was strong today, so we needed to come up with the right strategy to deal with it. "We weren't too comfortable against the strong Hirokami-Hobara pair, but we managed to calm ourselves down and take control of the rallies. We're hoping for better momentum tomorrow (Friday)." Pearly, after improving their head-to-head record to 3-0 against the Japanese duo, is now looking to step up in a tough last-eight clash against either Japan's world No. 9 Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto or Indonesia's world No. 10 Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi on Friday. "Our movement was quite slow today, but we hope to perform better in the quarter-finals," said Pearly. Shida-Matsuyama (88,832 points) missed the chance to consolidate second place after crashing out in the first round in Changzhou. Pearly-Thinaah, meanwhile, are set to collect enough points to overtake their Japanese rivals and move just behind runaway world No. 1s Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning of China — if they make the semi-finals. Pearly-Thinaah have already achieved their best result at the China Open by reaching the quarter-finals, and the prospect of a new career-high ranking will give them added motivation to go all out on Friday.

Malay Mail
a day ago
- Sport
- Malay Mail
Pearly-Thinaah reach China Open quarters after tough battle against Japanese pair
PETALING JAYA, July 24 — Malaysia's world No 3 women's doubles pair Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah booked their place in the quarter-finals of the China Open after a hard-fought win over Japan's Rui Hirokami and Sayaka Hobara. According to Free Malaysia Today (FMT), the more experienced Malaysian duo were pushed in the early stages but eventually prevailed 21-17, 21-13 in their second-round clash at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium in Changzhou. The match lasted 38 minutes, with Pearly-Thinaah having to dig deep to overcome the world No 99 Japanese pair, who were playing together for only the fourth time in a BWF World Tour event. The Japanese pair had previously met the Malaysians in the semi-finals of the Thailand Open in May, where they also lost in straight games. Pearly-Thinaah will next face the winners of the second-round match between Indonesia's Fabriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi and Japan's Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto. No Malaysian women's doubles pair has ever reached the final of the China Open


Free Malaysia Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- Free Malaysia Today
Pearly-Thinaah cruise into 2nd round of China Open
Pearly Tan-M Thinaah will face Japan's Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara in the second round of the China Open tomorrow. (Bernama pic) PETALING JAYA : Malaysia's top women's doubles pair, Pearly Tan-M Thinaah, cruised into the second round of the China Open after easily seeing off compatriots Ong Xin Yi-Carmen Ting in straight games tonight. Pearly-Thinaah took just 24 minutes to defeat their teenage rivals 21-8, 21-12, Utusan Malaysia reported. They will face Japan's Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara in the next round. Also progressing to the second round were world 22 pair Go Pei Kee-Teoh Mei Xing, who swept aside Poland's Paulina Hankiewicz-Kornelia Marczak 21-5, 21-6 in 22 minutes. Pei Kee-Mei Xing will face much tougher opponents when they meet world No 8 pair Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi of Japan next. Men's doubles pair Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun also progressed by defeating fellow Malaysians Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Junaidi 21-17, 21-16. They will face another Malaysian pair, Nur Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong, which guarantees Malaysia a spot in the quarter-finals.

Malay Mail
5 days ago
- Sport
- Malay Mail
Heartbreak as Pearly Tan, Thinaah fall to China's top pair in Japan Open final
KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 — Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah stumbled in their bid to become the first Malaysian women's doubles pair to land the Japan Open title, falling to world number one Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning of China in the 2025 final in Tokyo today. The Super 750 final at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium began on level terms, with both pairs locked at 6-6. However, the top-seeded and defending champions Sheng Shu-Tan Ning soon took control, ramping up the pressure to pull ahead 19-10 before closing out the first game 21-15. Sheng Shu-Tan Ning picked up right where they left off in the second game, storming to a 4-0 lead and stretching it to 14-7 before winning at 21-14 to retain the title in 45 minutes. The defeat dashed Pearly-Thinaah's hopes of avenging last month's Indonesia Open final loss to the same opponents, where they went down 25-23, 12-21, 19-21. Today's result also marked Pearly-Thinaah's ninth defeat in 12 meetings against Sheng Shu-Tan Ning. As the runners-up, Pearly-Thinaah pocketed US$33,250 (around RM141,000) while Sheng Shu-Tan Ning walked away with US$70,300 (about RM298,000) as champions. The world number three pair also matched the achievement of Malaysian legends Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui, who were runners-up in the Japan Open 2008 edition. The 2022 Commonwealth Games champions have had a good season so far, capturing the Thailand Open title in May and finishing second at the Indonesia Masters in January. — Bernama