PETALING JAYA: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah’s dream of retaining their Hong Kong Open women’s doubles crown was shattered after costly mistakes saw them bow out in the semi-finals yesterday.
The Malaysian duo, who were hoping to repeat last year’s title-winning run, had looked to be in with a chance especially after top seeds and fierce rivals Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning were sent packing in the second round by Japan’s Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara.
But beating China’s Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian was always going to be a tall order as the Chinese pair held a superior head-to-head record, having won four of their five previous encounters.
Pearly admitted that impatience crept into their game whenever they were in the lead, which allowed their opponents to seize control.
The Malaysians eventually fell 14-21, 11-21 in just 35 minutes, ending Malaysia’s campaign in the tournament.
“I think mentally we were a bit rushed because when we were leading, we wanted to get more and more points but forgot about our own gameplay,” said Pearly in a post match interview with Badminton World Federation (BWF).
“At times our focus dropped, and we made a lot of simple mistakes while following their pace. I think that was what cost us the match.’’
Besides lapses in focus, the world runners-up admitted that their opponents played the better game, which made it difficult for them to mount any effective attacks.
They now see the defeat as a valuable lesson to take with them should they cross paths again.
“I also feel that the way they arranged their shots made it difficult for us to keep up with their pace. We played a lot of defensive shots, which gave them more chances to attack with pressure and aggression. That is something we need to work on and also be more alert about,” said Thinaah.
Pearly-Thinaah will next compete in the China Masters in Shenzhen, which starts on Tuesday, where they are slated to take on Indonesia’s Febriana Kusuma-Meilysa Puspitasari in the first round.
RESULTS
Quarter finals
Men’ singles: Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) bt Alwi Farhan (Ina) 22-20, 16-21, 21-14; Lakshya Sen (Ind) bt Ayush Shetty (Ind) 21-16, 17-21, 21-13.
Mixed doubles: Guo Xinwa-Chen Fanghui (Chn) bt Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin (Chn) 21-18, 8-21, 21-19; Adnan Maulana-Indah Cahya Jamil (Ina) bt Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet (Hkg) 13-21, 21-19, 21-18; Yuta Watanabe-Misaki Matsumoto (Jpn) bt Jesper Toft-Amalie Magelund (Den) 21-17, 21-14; Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin (Mas) 21-16, 21-10.
Semi finals
Men’s singles: Li Shifeng (Chn) bt Christo Popov (Fra) 21-18, 21-19.
Men’s doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (Ind) bt Chen Cheng-kuan-Lin Bing-wei (Tpe) 21-17, 21-15; Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang (Chn) bt Lee Fang-chih-Lee Fang-jen 21-19, 21-8.
Women’s singles: Han Yue (Chn) bt Lin Hsiang-ti (Tpe) 14-21, 21-19, 21-19; Wang Zhiyi (Chn) bt Michelle Li (Can) 21-16, 22-20.
Women’s doubles: Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian (Chn) bt Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah (Mas) 21-14, 21-11
