PETALING JAYA: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah will not need reminding of what happened at the Denmark Open last year.
The women’s doubles pair were also the second seeds then, only for their campaign to end in the second round at the hands of Japan’s Arisa Igarashi-Chiharu Shida.
Back in Odense with the same seeding this year, Pearly-Thinaah will be hoping for a different outcome at the SJF Bank Arena.
They have received a first-round bye and will face either Hong Kong’s Yeung Nga Ting-Yeung Pui Lam or Scotland’s Julie Macpherson-Ciara Torrance in the second round.
On paper, Pearly-Thinaah have the edge against either pair. They have beaten Nga Ting-Pui Lam twice, including at the recent Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, while they also hold a winning record against Macpherson-Torrance.
However, the Scots have beaten them before, having pulled off an upset in the first round of the 2022 German Open.
That should be enough of a warning for Pearly-Thinaah not to take anything for granted, despite arriving in Odense with confidence high after winning bronze at the Asian Games.
“We are definitely more confident with each other now and we trust each other a lot. As long as we step onto the court, I think anything can happen.
“And of course, we are still hungry for more victories together and to create more history together. So we will train hard and work hard for that,” said Pearly.
The women’s doubles field in Odense has also opened up following the withdrawal of several top pairs, including China’s world No. 1 Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning, defending champions Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee of South Korea and world No. 4 Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian.
