Mixed emotions: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah in action against Indonesia’s Febriana Dwipuji-Meilysa Puspitasari in the final. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
BANGKOK: When women’s doubles shuttlers M. Thinaah and Pearly Tan fell to their knees and embraced each other after winning the final, it was not all joy. In fact, it was more relief.
The world No. 2 pair had just landed the gold in their maiden SEA Games after a titanic tussle with Indonesia’s Febriana Dwipuji-Meilysa Puspitasari, a gold that Malaysia had last won 10 years ago.
However, at one point, the gold had looked like it was slipping from the duo’s grasp.
They trailed 12-16 and 14-17 in the third game but the pair refused to give up staged a great fightback to emerge 21-16, 19-21, 21-17 winners after 86 exhausting minutes at Thammasat University in Pathum Thani yesterday.
Thinaah was relieved to deliver the gold after the pressure on her and Pearly’s shoulders.
“I felt very relieved. After we got the last point, my mind was blank.
“We are really happy we pulled through. I know everyone was tired,” said Thinaah.
“From the first day until the last day, the pressure was on us. I know everyone was expecting gold from us in the individual event
“We always have each other’s backs, so that is what really help us in our game.”
Pearly said: “We only wanted to enjoy the match and we didn’t want to leave with any regrets.
“It was such a struggle to get points, so honestly, I could not believe it when we finished off the match.”
Pearly-Thinaah ended a decade-long wait in the women’s doubles after Amelia Alicia Anscelly-Soong Fie Cho last triumphed in 2015 in Singapore.
It was also the duo’s fourth title of the year after they also landed the Thailand Open, Arctic Open and Japan Masters.
However, the pair felt the SEA Games gold was more meaningful.
“It’s very different in multi-sports Games like Asian Games, SEA Games and Olympics,” said Thinaah.
“The main thing is we are also fighting for our country. We didn’t want to let anyone down.
“This is definitely one of the goals we were hoping to achieve because we could not take part previously as the SEA Games clashed with Uber Cup and other team events.”
The title was a boost for Pearly-Thinaah ahead of the World Tour Finals starting on Wednesday in Hangzhou.
