Heartache: Pearly Tan (right) and M. Thinaah went down 22-24, 13-21 to Japan’s Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida in the last four of the German Open. — AP
PETALING JAYA: Don’t stop believing!
This is the advice given by national doubles coach Hoon Thien How to women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah after the duo came up short in the semi-finals yet again.
World No. 6 Pearly-Thinaah went down 22-24, 13-21 to Japan’s world No. 2 Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida in the last four of the German Open in Mulheim on Saturday.
The defeat was Pearly-Thinaah’s third straight loss in the semi-finals of individual events after they experienced the same in the Indian Open and Indonesian Masters in January.
The Malaysian pair had also finished second best to Matsuyama-Shida in the Indian Open.
Overall, Pearly-Thinaah have now only beaten the Japanese pair once in nine meetings with their sole victory coming in the quarter-finals of last October’s French Open.
On the defeat, Thien How said: “Pearly-Thinaah started slowly and played a safe game.
“When the opponents were leading by a big margin, they tried to catch up but could not win the game. They were affected by the narrow loss in the first game and lost their focus a little in the second game.”
Despite the loss, Thien How was pleased that Pearly-Thinaah have rediscovered some consistency after a downturn in form, following their historic French Open title win.
“Three semi-final finishes on the trot show that they are consistent which is good,” said Thien How.
“But I hope they can make another breakthrough by reaching the final and win a title.
“The important thing is for them to keep believing in themselves.”
Pearly-Thinaah will next turn their attention to the prestigious All-England which starts tomorrow in Birmingham. They have a tough opening round match against another Japanese pair, two-time world champions Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara.
Pearly-Thinaah had just beaten Matsumoto-Nagahara in the last eight in Mulheim.
Thien How, though, is not getting carried away.
“Pearly-Thinaah beat the Japanese pair here but need to prepare well again as this is a new match,” he added.
