No dream finish as Pearly-Thinaah lose in final in Indonesia


Malaysia’s M. Thinaah-Pearly Tan. — FAIHAN GHANI/The Star

PETALING JAYA: It was heartbreak for women's doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah after they went down fighting to South Korea's Kim Hye-jeong-Kong Hee-yong in the Indonesian Masters final.

Pearly-Thinaah did well to come back and win the second game 21-17 after losing the first 12-21 but the Koreans refused to give up and narrowly claimed the decider 21-18 in an exhausting 74-minute match at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta on Sunday (Jan 26).

It was the world No. 7 pair's second consecutive defeat to Hye-jeong-Hee-yong after losing to them in the Indian Open semi-final last week.

Despite the defeat, it was still an encouraging outing for Pearly-Thinaah, who reached their first final since coming second best to China's world No. 2 Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning in the Arctic Open last October.

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