PETALING JAYA: Women’s doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah are out to emulate seniors Vivian Hoo-Woon Khe Wei by capturing the Indonesian Masters title today.
The 2011 champions Vivian-Khe Wei were the only Malaysians so far to win the title since the tournament’s inception in 2010.
Pearly-Thinaah, who took over from the pair as the country’s No. 1, are keen to win the crown after beating South Korea’s Lee Yu-lim-Lee Yeon-woo 21-19, 21-16 in the semi-finals at Istora Senayan in Jakarta yesterday.
The world No. 7 duo had to survive some tense moments especially in the first game but used all their experience to come away with the win in 52 minutes.
Standing in their way to the title today are another Korean pair Kim Hye-jeong-Kong Hee-yong.
Hye-jeong-Hee-yong denied Pearly-Thinaah a spot in the Indian Open final last week and will be a tough hurdle again.
The Koreans finished runners-up to Japan’s Arisa Igarashi-Ayako Sakuramoto in New Delhi and are determined to win their first title this year.
Hye-jeong-Hee-yong pulled off an impressive 21-17, 22-20 victory over China’s Paris Olympics champion Jia Yifan and her new partner Zhang Zhuxian in the other last four match.
Pearly-Thinaah are wary of the threat posed by the Koreans but are hoping to avenge their defeat in India.
“We definitely want to win the title but we don’t want to put any pressure on ourselves. We just want to enjoy the match,” said Thinaah.
“We need to prepare both of defense and attack well because the Koreans are not easy to play against. We hope to communicate well and keep this positivity and momentum going.
Thinaah was also happy after getting her mojo with Pearly back since their disappointing first round exit in the Malaysian Open.
“This is an important win for us as we have always been trying to get back our best game and momentum,” said Thinaah.
“We have been through lots of ups and downs.
“So, this win boosts our confidence.”
Pearly-Thinaah have reached their first final since finishing runners-up to China’s world No. 2 Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning in the Arctic Open last October.
The pair’s last title was in the Hong Kong Open last October where they sensationally upstaged Shengshu-Tan Ning.
