Tactical masterclass: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah were in sensational form, needing just 38 minutes to topple China’s world No. 3 Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning 21-14, 21-14 at the Hong Kong Coliseum in Kowloon yesterday.
PETALING JAYA: Women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah were left disappointed after missing out on the Korean Open title a day after Merdeka Day.
But the world No. 8 did not take long to made amends for that when they captured the Hong Kong Open title in style to give the country a perfect Malaysia Day gift yesterday.
Pearly-Thinaah were in sensational form, needing just 38 minutes to topple China’s world No. 3 Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning 21-14, 21-14 at the Hong Kong Coliseum in Kowloon yesterday.
It was a tactical masterclass from Pearly-Thinaah, who controlled the match from start to finish to put the Paris Olympics silver medallists to the sword with their intelligent attacking play and solid defence.
It could even have been a more emphatic win when the Malaysians led 20-9 in the second game but they allowed Shengshu-Tan Ning to get five consecutive points before grabbing the all-important 21st point to seal victory.
Pearly-Thinaah were underdogs for the match after losing their last four meetings against the powerful Chinese duo but have been in great form lately and turned the tables superbly on them this time to win their first title since the 2022 French Open in Paris.
Just like in the French tourney, Pearly-Thinaah created history by becoming the first Malaysian women’s doubles pair to win the Hong Kong Open crown since the tournament’s inception in 1982.
The pair also pulled off a stunning win over South Korea’s world No. 2 Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee en route to the title.
Pearly-Thinaah were over the moon after ending their title drought.
“Honestly, we never thought about it (creating history) actually. We are just so happy with the win today (yesterday),” said Thinaah in a post match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
“We reached the Korean Open final on Merdeka Day but could not win the title. I think God gave us another opportunity and we are really happy that we got the title this time.
“This is a gift for Malaysia. Happy Malaysia Day to all Malaysians!”
Thinaah also said that she felt relieved to wrap up the win in straight games after giving away five points when holding match point.
“I think both of us were thinking the same. We wanted to finish the game faster. That’s when we did some simple mistakes that we should not have done,” said Thinaah.
“We will take note of this and be more cautious next time.”
Pearly-Thinaah were delighted to cross the finish line this time after settling for second best in last year’s edition.
The pair also finished runners-up in the Malaysian Masters last year.
Pearly-Thinaah said their communication and strategy on court were the keys to their win and will be out to maintain their good form after this.
“We communicated more on our game play and this really helped us in the match. This was the most important thing for both of us,” said Pearly.
“We want to be more consistent after this and we hope to keep up this momentum.”
Pearly-Thinaah don’t have a lot of time to celebrate as they are down to compete next in the China Open, which starts tomorrow in Changzhou.
