KUALA LUMPUR — A mentality that often falters continues to be a nightmare for the country’s top women’s doubles pair of Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah when performing on the highest stage.
This was admitted by Pearly herself after the defeat with Thinaah in the quarter-finals of the 2023 World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark recently, thus failing to bring home a medal.
She said such a level of mentality affects tenacity and fighting spirit on the court, especially when leading a game, which causes them to make simple mistakes that end up costing them.
“Of course, we are not satisfied and very sad to lose in the quarter-finals, but as we were leading, our mindset and our hearts were not strong enough.
“So I hope we can find a solution because not once or twice but many times (this happened).
“We hope to find a solution to this problem as soon as possible so that the same thing does not happen again,” she said.
Despite often being stranded at tournaments due to the recurring problem, it does not at all discourage the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist to redouble her efforts towards bringing success to the country.
Pearly said that she and Thinaah, who emerged as the French Open champions last year, will try to reach their best level of performance gradually because there is no shortcut to being at the top.
“All athletes hope to win, so we will train hard and give our best, then follow up with results,” said the 23-year-old Kedah-born player.
At the World Championships in Denmark, Pearly-Thinaah, who are the world number 11 pairing, were shown the exit by the Chinese pair of Zhang Shu Xian-Zheng Yu, with a result of 21-17, 17-21, 19-21 at the quarter-final stage, thus dashing their dream of advance to the semi-finals. — August 30, 2023