M. Thinaah and Pearly Tan. - Reuters
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s dream of finishing the World Championships in Paris with a historic double ended in heartbreak but not without a brave fight from Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah.
The women’s doubles duo threw everything at world No. 1 Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning in Sunday’s final, refusing to bow easily to the mighty Chinese pair but eventually went down 14-21, 22-20, 17-21 in 83 minutes at the Adidas Arena in Paris.
After losing the opening game, Pearly-Thinaah roared back in the second, even holding three game points at 20-17, before their rivals clawed back to snatch victory and deny Malaysia back-to-back titles.
However, Shengshu-Tan Ning clawed their way back with renewed aggression to erase the deficit and tie it at 20-20, before a costly mistake handed Pearly-Thinaah the chance to drag the clash into a decider.
In the rubber, the world No. 1 pair changed gears, varying their tactics and piling on the pressure to eventually subdue the spirited Malaysians 21-14, 20-22, 21-17 in a gripping final.
Despite the defeat, Pearly-Thinaah can hold their heads high as they became the first Malaysian women’s doubles pair to reach the final and win a medal at the World Championships.
Bronze went to Japan’s Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi and Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida after both pairs fell in the semi-finals.
Earlier, mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei were crowned champions after defeating world No. 2 Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin in the final.
