Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah
PETALING JAYA: Women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah will need to stay alert in today’s second round of the Denmark Open as they face Japan’s newly formed duo Arisa Igarashi-Chiharu Shida in their bid for a quarter-final berth.
Chiharu, who previously partnered Nami Matsuyama, has been a thorn in Pearly-Thinaah’s side in the past, holding a 13-3 head-to-head record over the Malaysians.
However, Pearly-Thinaah managed to turn the tables in dramatic fashion during the World Championships semi-finals in Paris last August — a match that proved to be Chiharu and Nami’s final outing together after a decade-long partnership.
Now, with Chiharu teaming up with Arisa since last month, the Japanese pair will be eager to avenge that defeat when they take on the Malaysians in today’s second-round clash.
Pearly-Thinaah, despite only just retaining their Arctic Open title last week, showed no signs of fatigue as they cruised past Indonesia’s Rachel Rose-Febi Setianingrum 21-13, 21-17 in the first round yesterday.
“After last week, we were really excited to be back here in Denmark. We just wanted to enjoy ourselves on court and support each other whenever one of us was having a tough moment. I think that really helped us,” said Thinaah in a post match interview with Badminton World Federation (BWF).
They also came better prepared for this year’s Denmark Open, especially with the slower shuttle conditions at the Jyske Bank Arena in Odense.
Last year, their campaign ended in the quarter-finals after losing to Japan’s Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi.
“The shuttle is quite slow here, so it can get exhausting at times. Last year, both of us were really tired, but this time we’ve come prepared for the conditions,” said Pearly.
