PETALING JAYA: No record is unbreakable and no drought lasts forever.
National women’s doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah proved that once again by capturing the Denmark Open crown to continue their remarkable pursuit of more titles.
The world No. 5 made short work of Japan’s Hinata Suzuki-Nao Yamakita, needing just 36 minutes to seal an emphatic 21-18, 21-11 victory in the final at the SJF Bank Arena in Odense yesterday.
Thinaah admitted she did not expect them to go all the way after they had repeatedly fallen at the quarter-final stage in previous editions.
“To be honest, we’re really happy to win the title here. We had never made it past the quarter-finals before, so to finally get beyond that stage and go on to win the title means a lot to us.
“Now we can celebrate tonight with a good dinner,” said Thinaah in a post-match interview with the BWF.
Pearly, meanwhile, was happy to be the first Malaysian women’s doubles pair to win the Denmark Open in 18 years since Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui lifted it in 2008.
“We kept our focus in our game. The main thing was to stay safe, stay injury-free and enjoy the game. I think that’s the most important,” said Pearly.
Despite their recent improvement, both remained modest when asked whether they were finally back to their best after struggling for form over the past few months.
“I don’t know whether we have reached our peak yet, but I think we are getting stronger after what we went through over the past few months.
“There were injuries and a lot of ups and downs for both of us.
“I’m very happy to have gone through all this with Thinaah, and to stand on the highest podium today means a lot to us.
“Like I said, I don’t want to stop here. We want to keep moving forward and improving,” added Pearly, who will take part in the French Open tomorrow.
A few months ago, Pearly-Thinaah were struggling for form as Pearly battled a series of injuries.
However, they began to regain their rhythm at last month’s Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, where they reached the semi-finals and brought home a bronze medal for Malaysia.
That was also a major achievement as they ended Malaysia’s 12-year wait for a women’s doubles medal since Vivian Hoo-Woon Khe Wei won bronze at the 2014 Incheon edition. This year, they also had won the Indonesian Masters and reached the Taiwan Open final.
