M. Thinaah-Pearly Tan
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s All-England campaign came to an end after the nation’s last two remaining representatives, women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah and mixed doubles duo Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie, bowed out in the quarter-finals on Friday (March 14).
Pearly and Thinaah had hoped to carry their winning momentum from the second round into their clash against Japan’s Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida, but their bid to defy the odds fell short.
Pearly was still feeling the effects of the right ankle sprain she sustained in the second round on Thursday but gave a valiant fight with Thinaah but ultimately could not stop Matsuyama-Shida from sealing a 21-17, 21-19 victory.
History was not on their side, having lost 11 times to the Japanese pair in previous encounters.
It was a similar story for Soon Huat-Shevon in their match against China’s Jiang Zhenbang-Huang Dongping when they lost 21-18, 8-21, 10-21 in 45 minutes.
The husband and wife duo started strong, dominating the first game. However, their intensity dipped in the second, allowing the Chinese duo to pull away with a commanding lead. The same pattern repeated in the rubber game.
