PETALING JAYA: World No. 2 women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah are expected to make up for last year’s early exit at the Asian Championships, but their real test will begin if they reach the quarter-finals.
Women’s doubles head coach Rosman Razak believes Pearly-Thinaah should not face problems getting past Hong Kong pair Fan Ka Yan-Yau Mau Ying in the first round.
They had beaten the world No. 50 pair in the opening round of the Malaysian Masters last year.
Awaiting them in the second round will be either Taiwan’s Hsu Yin-hui-Lin Jhih-yun or Thailand’s Ornnicha Jongsathapornparn-Sukitta Suwachai.
However, the challenge is expected to intensify in the quarter-finals, where they could meet China’s Li Yijing-Luo Xumin or Japan’s Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hirota, with the competition only getting tougher towards the later stages.
Rosman acknowledged that Pearly-Thinaah cannot avoid tough opponents, as they will have to take on the world’s best pairs from China, Japan and South Korea in their bid to reach the podium.
“I think the draw is fair as usual. The first round against Hong Kong is manageable, but they still need to be cautious,” said Rosman.
“As I said, the draw is similar to other tournaments, nothing much has changed and we just need to focus on our own game.
“For Pearly-Thinaah, of course the top pairs like Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee from Korea, as well as the Chinese and Japanese pairs, always pose a strong challenge. Results between them can go either way. But we have prepared well for this tournament, so hopefully they can deliver.’’
As such, Rosman is ready to map out the best strategies depending on the opponents they face in each round in their push for a place in the final.
“The motivation is there but as I said, every tournament comes with different challenges. I can only say more during the tournament itself. For now, everything is going well in our preparations and hopefully they can deliver,” he added.
At last year’s Asian Championships, also held in Ningbo, Pearly-Thinaah suffered a first-round loss to South Korea’s Kim Hye-jeong-Kong Hee-yong.
