PETALING JAYA: Women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah admit they remain a work in progress as they continue their bid to regain their best form.
Pearly, who only recently returned from injury feels that the women’s doubles field has become more competitive during her absence, with their rivals continuing to improve.
As a result, she and Thinaah have stopped worrying about their seeding and are instead concentrating on regaining their momentum and fitness.
“Before we entered the match, we really didn’t think about the result. Even in our first match, we knew we were seeded, but that doesn’t matter to us anymore because we’ve been away for quite some time.
“Everyone is catching up and everyone is improving, so we’re treating this as part of the learning process while trying to get our momentum back,” said Pearly in a post-match interview with the BWF.
Pearly-Thinaah’s China Open campaign ended in the quarter-finals after they went down 16-21, 16-21 to Japan’s Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto.
Although they fell short of matching last year’s semi-final run, the world No. 5 pair viewed the tournament as another step forward after crashing out in the opening round of last week’s Japan Open.
Pearly admitted there was still room for improvement, particularly in terms of her fitness, but was encouraged by the way she and Thinaah continued to fight and communicate well on court.
“One thing I learned is that even in a difficult situation, we still managed to find a way to play and put up a fight.
“We communicated well on court and knew how we wanted to play. The only thing we’re still lacking is fitness, especially on my side.
“We have another tournament next week, so we’ll focus on that, make the most of the next few days in training and hopefully come back stronger,” she said.
Pearly-Thinaah will next compete in the Taiwan Open in Taipei, where they will face Japan’s Mao Hatasue-Kanano Muroya in the opening round.
RESULTS
SEMI-FINALS
Women’s singles: Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Wang Zhiyi (Chn) 21-10, 6-21, 21-16; Chen Yufei (Chn) bt Tomoka Miyazaki (Jpn) 21-17, 21-15.
Women’s doubles: Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning (Chn) bt Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee (Kor) 21-9, 21-10; Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto (Jpn) bt Li Yijing-Luo Xumin (Chn) 14-21, 21-9, 21-15.
Mixed doubles: Guo Xinwa-Cheng Fanghui (Chn) bt Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) 23-21, 21-19; Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (Fra) 21-19, 21-14.
QUARTER-FINALS
Men’s doubles: Fajar Alfian-Shohibul Fikri (Ina) bt Kang Min-hyuk-Ki Dong-ju (Kor) 21-15, 21-13; Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) bt Chen Bo-yang-Liu Yi (Chn) 21-13, 21-17.
Women’s doubles: Li Yi-jing-Luo Xu-min (Chn) bt Rachel Allessya-Febi Setianingrum (Ina) 21-18, 21-18.
