PEARLY Tan-M. Thinaah may have missed out on helping Malaysia end their 64-year wait for an Asian Games women’s team medal, but they still walked away with a timely confidence boost after showing glimpses of their old form.
Malaysia lost 3-1 to defending champions South Korea in the quarter-finals at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium in Aichi on Tuesday (Sept 22), with Pearly-Thinaah delivering the team's only point.
The Malaysian pair stunned world champions Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee 22-20, 21-17 to level the score at 1-1 after K. Letshanaa had gone down 12-21, 8-21 to world No. 1 An Se-young in the opening singles.
It was Pearly-Thinaah’s first win over the world No. 2 pair in two years, having last beaten them at the 2024 Hong Kong Open.
The victory also helped erase some of the disappointment from the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, where Ha-na-So-hee beat them in the quarter-finals and denied them a medal.
More importantly, the win came at an ideal time for Pearly-Thinaah, who have struggled for form in recent months, with the individual event starting on Friday (Sept 25).
It also showed that the coaching team’s decision to revisit videos of their best performances before the Asian Games had helped them regain some of their old form.
The scratch pairing of Cheng Su Yin-Low Zi Yu also caught the eye yesterday, putting up a spirited display despite being paired together at the last minute.
Su Yin had not played women’s doubles for three years, with her last appearance in the event coming at the 2023 Nantes International Challenge with her sister, Cheng Su Hui.
Yet she and Zi Yu pushed Kim Hye-jeong-Jeong Na-eun to the limit before narrowly losing 18-21, 21-11, 22-24 in the deciding match.
The South Korean pair, who were once ranked as high as world No. 3 together in 2022, eventually held their nerve to seal the winning point.
The defeat also ended Malaysia’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals, which would have guaranteed them at least a bronze medal.
Malaysia have not won a medal in the women’s team event since taking silver at the 1962 Jakarta Asian Games.
Like Pearly-Thinaah, Su Yin will now turn her attention to the individual event, where the Asian Games debutant will resume her mixed doubles partnership with Chen Tang Jie.
Meanwhile Zi Yu, who is only 16, will compete in the women’s doubles with Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan.
