Chance for Pearly-Thinaah to break home curse

Ending home jinx: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah chase elusive Malaysian Open breakthrough.

PETALING JAYA: There is a long curse that Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah, the world No. 2 women’s doubles pair, hope to end when they begin their Malaysian Open campaign at the Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil, on Tuesday (Jan 6).

The Malaysian Open has often been unkind to Pearly-Thinaah, as they have suffered early-round exits in the past three editions.

Last year, despite entering the tournament as the third seeds, they were stunned by Indonesia’s Lanny Tria Mayasari-Siti Fadia Ramdhanti.

The year before, they faced a tough draw and bowed out to China’s Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning.

In 2023, the Malaysian duo were defeated by the Bulgarian sister pair, Gabriela-Stefani Stoeva.

Women’s doubles head coach Rosman Razak said he is preparing his players with the best possible preparation to break the losing streak at their own den.

However, Rosman acknowledged that results ultimately depend on match day, noting that Pearly-Thinaah have just returned from the World Tour Finals two weeks ago.

"Of course, it’s very realistic for us to aim for the best results in this tournament. But we take it one step at a time.

 

"I only recently learned that Pearly and Thinaah haven't passed the first round here in the past three years. So yes, we want to do better.

"If they participate in the tournament, a realistic target would be the top four, meaning the semi-finals. That’s realistic and what anyone would normally say.

"But we have to take it one match at a time, especially since the Malaysian Open is the first tournament of the season.

 

"The season is long, and there are many more major tournaments we need to manage," said Rosman.

Pearly-Thinaah, the second seeds for this year’s tournament, will face India’s Rutaparna Panda-Swetaparna Panda in the opening round.

Other Malaysian pairs in the women’s doubles event include Go Pei Kee-Teoh Mei Xing, who will take on Hong Kong’s Yeung Nga Ting-Yeung Pui Lam, while Carmen Ting-Ong Xin Yee will meet Japan’s Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara.