Smashing Pearly-Thinaah upset former world champs to keep Olympics quarter-final hopes alive

Superb fight: Women's doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah pull off a stunning win. - NSC Facebook

PETALING JAYA: Women's doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah kept their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of the Paris Olympics alive with a sensational win over Japan's former two-time world champions Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara.

Pearly-Thinaah needed to win after losing narrowly to China's Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan in their opening Group A match and rose to the occasion to beat world No. 6 Matsumoto-Nagahara 18-21, 21-15, 21-16 in a hard fought match at Adidas Arena in Port de la Chapelle on Sunday (July 28).