PETALING JAYA: National women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah may have fallen in the China Open quarter-finals but they believe they are moving in the right direction.
The world No. 5 Pearly-Thinaah’s campaign in Changzhou ended after they lost 16-21, 16-21 to Japan’s world No. 3 duo Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto yesterday.
Pearly chose to focus on the positives.
“The biggest lesson is that even in a bad situation we still managed to find a way to play, and we could still fight even though we lost,” said Pearly.
Pearly was out of action due to back injury in April.
“But it is what it is. We communicated well and knew how we wanted to play on court. We are lacking some fitness, especially from my side.”
The duo had also reached the Indonesian Open quarter-finals last month, but suffered a shock first round exit in Japan last week.
“We didn’t think of the results even on the first day. We know we are seeded, but it doesn’t matter because we’ve been away for some time and everyone is catching up.
“It’s a learning step for us to get our momentum back,” added Pearly.
Said Thinaah: “Overall, we are just happy that we finished the game safely because our health and being injury-free comes first.
“However, we are not satisfied. There are positive signs that we are getting our rhythm back, but there are things to work on.
In the next tournament at the Taiwan Open starting on Tuesday, they will face Mao Hatasue-Kanano Muroya of Japan in the first round.
Q-FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) bt Shi Yuqi (Chn) 21-14, 12-21, 21-15; Lin Chun-yi (Tpe) bt Weng Hongyang (Chn) 27-25, 21-14; Victor Lai (Can) bt Jonatan Christie (Ina) 21-14, 21-17; Toma Junior Popov (Fra) bt Nhat Nguyen (Irl) 12-21, 21-10, 21-15.
Men’s doubles: Ben Lane-Sean Vendy (Eng) bt Kakeru Kumagai-Hiroki Nishi (Jpn) 21-9, 18-21, 21-17; Liang Wengkang-Wang Chang (Chn) bt Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard (Den) 21-11, 22-20. Women’s singles: Wang Zhiyi (Chn) bt Kim Ga-eun (Kor) 21-18, 21-14; Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Han Yue (Chn) 21-16, 14-21, 21-17; Chen Yufei (Chn) bt Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) 15-21, 21-12, 21-13; Tomoka Miyazaki (Jpn) bt Putri Wardani (Ina) 16-21, 21-11, 21-9.
Women’s doubles: Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto (Jpn) bt Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (Mas) 21-16, 21-16; Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning (Chn) bt Benyapa Aimsaard-Nuntakarn Aimsaard (Tha) 21-9, 21-8; Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee (Kor) bt Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) 21-8, 26-24.
Mixed doubles: Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) bt Yuta Watanabe-Maya Taguchi (Jpn) 21-11, 19-21, 21-19; Guo Xinwa-Chen Fanghui (Chn) bt Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin (Chn) 14-21, 21-18, 21-18; Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Yang Po-hsuan-Hu Ling-fang (Tpe) 21-15, 21-11; Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (Fra) bt Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje (Den) 24-22, 21-16.
