Powering on: Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah have shown their fighting spirit on numerous occasions and this is what coach Rexy Mainaky wants to see at the world meet.
PETALING JAYA: Rexy Mainaky wants more from Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah at the World Championships in Copenhagen from Aug 21-27.
So far, the national women’s doubles pair have not managed to build on their brilliant run to the final of the Malaysian Masters at Axiata Arena in May.
World No. 11 Pearly-Thinaah had to pull out of the Singapore and Indonesian Opens in June after the former had suffered an elbow injury.
When Pearly recovered on time for the Korean Open last month, she and Thinaah had hoped to get back on track.
The duo went down fighting to China’s world No. 1 and eventual champions Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan in three games in the second round.
Pearly-Thinaah also suffered early round defeats in the back-to-back Japan and Australian Opens.
The pair also lost out to Qingchen-Yifan in the same round in Tokyo before suffering defeat to another Chinese pair, world No. 6 Zhang Shuxian-Zheng Yu in the opening round in Sydney.
Doubles coaching director Rexy believes his charges can do better and wants them to prove it in the world meet.
“Pearly-Thinaah need to play like they have nothing to lose,” said Rexy.
“They have made mistakes like not being able to hold on when leading in games.
“But they have also shown that they are capable of fighting back when they were behind by many points.
“I’m hoping for the same spirit from them that they displayed in the Malaysian Masters in the World Championships.
“That time, they did not have much time to prepare but they managed to fight until the final after playing in the Sudirman Cup.
“They have the capability but they need to do more to get over the line in matches.”
In the world meet, Pearly-Thinaah have received a first-round bye and will likely play Scotland’s world No. 35 Julia Macpherson-Ciara Torrance in the second round.
The former should beat the Scottish pair but could face a stern test against Japan’s two-time former world champions Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara in the third round.
The other Malaysian representatives are Anna Cheong-Teoh Mei Xing and independent pair Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien.
Anna-Mei Xing will open their campaign against Annie Xu-Kerry Xu of the United States while Vivian-Chiew Sien will meet Sweden’s Moa Sjoo-Tilda Sjoo in the first round.
