PETALING JAYA: National women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah were left to rue their lack of patience after bowing out of the semi-finals in the Indonesian Masters.
World No. 6 Pearly-Thinaah squandered a 11-5 lead in the second game against Japan’s three-time World Championships silver medallists Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota, to lose 14-21, 19-21 at Istora Senayan in Jakarta yesterday.
The duo had beaten them at the 2022 Malaysian Masters but yesterday’s defeat saw the Japanese taking a 3-2 lead in the head-to-head record.
“Our opponents were more patient than us and their shots put us under pressure. We were too eager to kill the shuttle and this cost us,” lamented Thinaah.
It was still a creditable outing for Pearly-Thinaah as they managed to reach back-to-back semi-finals after crashing out in the first round of the Malaysian Open.
They also made the last four of the Indian Open last week.
Meanwhile, Pearly moved to allay fears that she had sustained a serious injury after appearing to hurt her knee when she fell in the first game while trying to retrieve a shot.
“I did knock my knee hard on the floor but it’s nothing serious,” said Pearly.
“For now, we need to take a good rest and then analyse the matches that we lost and see where we need to improve on,” she said.
The pair will now turn their attentions to the Asian Mixed Team Championships from Feb 14-19 in Dubai.
The world No. 11 Fukushima-Hirota will face China’s new pair Liu Shengshu-Zhang Shuxian, who stunned Thailand’s world No. 8 Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai 21-11, 21-9 in the other last four match.
In the men’s singles, homester Jonatan Christie has set-up an all-Indonesian final with Chico Aura.
