PETALING JAYA: Paris rolls back good memories for women’s doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (pic).
And national coach Hoon Thien How wants the duo to draw inspiration from their past performances in the 2022 French Open to give a creditable showing in this year’s edition starting tomorrow.
“They played superbly to win, I hope they will remember how well they played together,” said Thien How.
Pearly-Thinaah were completely drenched and drained out as they had fought hard to upstage two-time world champions Mayu Matsutomo-Wakana Nagahara of Japan in a pulsating final that saw them winning their biggest career title.
En route to the title, they had stunned Indonesia’s Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Ramadhanti (first round) and world No. 3 Chiharu Shida-Nami Matsuyama of Japan (quarter-finals).
Thien How knows the duo need bigger motivation to move forward after losing in the early rounds of the Opens in Malaysia and India before reaching the last eight at the Indonesian Masters last month.
“Starting from this year, their form had dropped. And here, they have a tough opener against a Chinese pair, it will not be easy,” said Thien How.
“I just hope they will discover the form that saw them winning the French Open... after all, they did it here.
Thien How is with his charges in Paris after leaving home on Friday.
In the opening round tomorrow, Pearly-Thinaah face Zhang Shuxian-Zheng Yu, seeded fifth.
The world No. 5 have been in exceptional form this year, reaching the final of the Malaysian Open, Indian Open and Indonesian Masters.
If Pearly-Thinaah beat them, they will probably face South Koreans Jeong Na-eun-Kim Hye-jeong.
The Malaysian duo are currently ranked ninth in the Road to Paris rankings, and should make the Olympics trip if they can maintain their consistent form in the remaining tournaments.
The other women pair in the competition are Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien but they have a tricky opener against Maiken Fruergaard-Sara Thygesen of Denmark.
