PETALING JAYA: Shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah are fired up to continue their historic run in the World Championships after becoming the first Malaysians to reach the women's doubles semi-finals.
Pearly-Thinaah showed their class by dispatching world No. 19 Bulgarian sisters Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva 21-15, 21-10 in just 32 minutes at the Adidas Arena in Port de la Chapelle in Paris yesterday.
The huge breakthrough came just a year after the pair created history by becoming the first women's doubles duo from Malaysia to reach the last four in the Olympics in the same venue.
The achievement in the world meet was especially meaningful for Pearly-Thinaah after they came close to reaching the semi-finals in the last edition in 2023 in Copenhagen only to be narrowly denied by China's Zhang Shuxian-Zheng Yu.
"We are very happy with this achievement. In the last world meet, we were so near, yet so far. So, today (yesterday), to manage to win this match really means a lot to the both of us," said Thinaah in a post-match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
"There were times during the match when we were not patient enough but thankfully, we kept reminding each other on what we had to do, so that really helped."
Pearly-Thinaah, who have had a fine year so far, are now looking to go further.
The high-flying duo though face a tough task next against Japanese bogey pair Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida in what will be a repeat of the Olympic bronze medal match last year where the latter came out on top.
Overall, Pearly-Thinaah have struggled to beat Matsuyama-Shida, trailing 2-13 in their past head-to-head meetings.
The latter, who are playing together in their last competition before parting ways, will also be pumped up to end their partnership on a high.
The Malaysians though can take heart from their impressive display in their last encounter in the Japan Open last month where they won 21-13, 21-11.
Pearly believes patience is the key to beating Matsuyama-Shida, who are known for their strong defense and stamina.
"Consistency and patience is the key. Now, we keep supporting each other and communicating after every point, so that's the main key for us to play well," said Pearly.
"We hope to keep this up and we'll see how it goes. We will discuss with each other and the coaches on what we are still lacking and prepare well for tomorrow's (today) match."
