Goodbye: China’s Chen Qingchen (back) and Jia Yifan played in their last tournament at the French Open. — AP
PETALING JAYA: Goodbye, old rival Chen Qingchen!
World No. 2 Pearly-Thinaah have bid farewell to one of their strongest opponents Qingchen of China after the latter decided to retire from the sport and announced it at the French Open.
On Friday, Pearly-Thinaah lost 16-21, 16-21 to Qingchen and her partner Jia Yifan in the quarter-finals at the Glaz Arena in Cesson Sevigne.
And yesterday, the 28-year-old Qingchen and Yifan were surprisingly beaten 16-21, 17-21 by teammates Li Yijing-Luo Xumin in the semi-finals in what turned out to be their last appearance in an international competition together.
Pearly-Thinaah have only beaten the China pair once in nine meetings, and it was achieved at the second round of the All-England last year.
Qingchen will leave behind a remarkable legacy after capturing numerous titles with her partner including gold in the Paris Olympics last year and four World Championships crowns (2017, 2021, 2022, 2023).
Yifan though is not ready to quit just yet and will resume her partnership with Zhang Shuxian.
Qingchen did not state the reason but she has been battling with illness after the Paris Olympics and in fact, played with younger partners for a while before the reunion for the last dance in France.
“I wish Yifan all the best and I will surely give her my full support so that she will continue to be successful with her new partner,” said Qingchen.
Meanwhile, the Arctic Open champions Pearly-Thinaah took their defeat to Qingchen-Yifan in their stride.
“We didn’t get the perfect ending but we found new strength and focus,” said Pearly via social media.
“Thank you to my partner for staying strong with me through the tired days.
“These three weeks reminded me why I love what I do. Let’s rest, recharge and start again with full hearts.”
Pearly-Thinaah have enjoyed a breakthrough year so far, capturing the Thailand Open title along with their triumph in the Arctic tourney and finishing runners-up in the World Championships, Japan Open, Indonesian Open and Indonesian Masters.
The pair have now assured themselves a spot in the season-ending World Tour Finals from Dec 17-21 in Hangzhou.
Pearly-Thinaah are sitting comfortably in second in the Race to Finals rankings with only the top eight pairs making the cut.
The duo will be making their fourth appearance in the Finals after also qualifying in 2021, 2022 and 2024.
