World beaters: Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah have toppled top pairs from Japan, South Korea and selected combinations from China.
PETALING JAYA: Women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah have the standard to achieve a podium finish at the World Championships but they need to have the right character to achieve the feat in Copenhagen.
National doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky doesn’t have doubts about the quality of Pearly-Thinaah as one of the top pairs in the world but said that the desire to achieve greatness on court must come from within themselves.
The world No. 11 Pearly-Thinaah have earned the tag as world beaters after victories over top pairs from Japan and South Korea and selected combinations from the all-conquering China but French Open remains their biggest breakthrough so far.
They did extremely well in May to reach the final and narrowly lost in three games to world No. 2 Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee of South Korea.
At the World Championships, Pearly-Thinaah will be attempting to become the first Malaysian women’s doubles pair to win a medal at the major event.
“Pearly-Thinaah have the standard to win a medal (at the World Championships) but they must possess the character and desire to achieve it,” said Rexy.
“The other factor that is going to help them bag a medal is their focus. For example, they were leading 15-6 against Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan (of China) in the Korean Open but once they started losing several points, their focus wavered and they lost the match (in the second round).
“Pearly-Thinaah have been very quiet in training in the lead-up to the World Championships but it’s a sign that they are very focused.
“Their preparation has been good. Movement on court, focus and eagerness have been good.”
They have a first-round bye at the World Championships and are likely to meet Scottish pair Julie Macpherson-Ciara Torrance in the second round before the crunch match against world No. 4 Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara.
They lost to the Japanese pair in the first round of the All-England in March but they still hold a 2-1 head-to-head record.
Victory against the Japanese will likely set them up against another tough tussle with China’s world No. 6 Zhang Shuxian-Zheng Yu in the last eight.
“They lost to Matsumoto-Nagahara in the All-England in three games and we have to admit that the Japanese have been playing better,” said Rexy.
“We are hoping that Pearly-Thinaah can replicate the spirit and performance that took them to the Malaysian Masters final (in May).”
If they can score a first against Shuxian-Zheng Yu, who have a 3-0 record, Pearly-Thinaah can make history as Malaysia’s first medallists in women’s doubles at the World Championships.
Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui were the only Malaysian pair to reach the quarter-finals at the 2007 World Championships in Kuala Lumpur and Pearly-Thinaah can go one better if they can play true to form in Copenhagen.
