PETALING JAYA: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah have a chance to go far at the China Masters with several of their main rivals missing from the women’s doubles draw.
A strong run this week would also give the world No. 5 pair a timely confidence boost and help them build momentum with the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games less than 16 days away. Pearly-Thinaah were originally drawn to face China’s Luo Yi-Wang Tingge in the first round.
However, the late withdrawal of several top pairs, including world No. 1 Tan Ning-Liu Shengshu, Japan’s world No. 3 Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto, South Korea’s Lee So-hee-Baek Ha-na and Bulgarian sisters Stefani-Gabriela Stoeva, triggered the seed withdrawal movement (SWM), resulting in changes to the original draw.
Under the SWM, Pearly-Thinaah were handed a first-round bye and will face Thailand’s Benyapa Aimsaard-Nuntakarn Aimsaard in the second round today.
Former national shuttler Woon Khe Wei believes this is a good opportunity for Pearly-Thinaah to regain their rhythm after struggling to produce their best in recent tournaments.
Pearly, in particular, has been playing with some caution after only recently recovering from injury.
“It would definitely be good for them if they can get a good result at the China Masters.
“I don’t think they played particularly well at the recent World Championships, but that could also be because Pearly had only just returned from injury.
“It may have affected her confidence and made her a little more cautious on court,” said Khe Wei.
Khe Wei, who herself endured serious injuries during her playing career, understands how difficult it can be for Pearly to rediscover her best form after a layoff.
“It’s not easy to get back to your best. It takes time and Pearly doesn’t need to rush.
“For me, perhaps Pearly-Thinaah can look back at some of the matches where they played well and won, and try to reproduce that kind of performance to rebuild their confidence,” said Khe Wei.
Pearly-Thinaah’s last podium finish came at the Taiwan Open last month, where they had to settle for runners-up after losing to Japan’s Sumire Nakade-Miyu Takahashi in the final.
They are not the only Malaysian pair looking to build momentum before the Asian Games.
Young pair Low Zi Yu-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan, who are set to make their Asian Games debut, will also be hoping for a good run in Shenzhen.
After receiving a first-round bye, Zi Yu-Noraqilah face a much tougher test today against defending champions Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian in the second round.
“For me, they have nothing to fear even though they are facing the defending champions. Instead of feeling intimidated, they should just go out there, enjoy the match and see if they can create an upset,” said Khe Wei.
