KUALA LUMPUR – Bravery was what got Pearly Tan-M Thinaah through to the semifinals of the Hong Kong Open, when they defeated Thailand’s Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai today.
The world number 10 pair breathed a sigh of relief as they successfully maintained a straight-win record against their 9th-ranked opponents out of five meetings.
It took Pearly-Thinaah 66 minutes to eliminate the Thais, winning 15-21, 21-14, 21-19.
The victory also means they have reached their fifth semifinal this season.
Thinaah attributed their triumph to their coaches, Hoo Thien How and Tan Bin Shen, who were there to give their support throughout the match.
As they were trailing behind in the third game, she said the coaches reminded them to put up a brave fight.
“Towards the end when we were behind, our coaches told us to just be brave and play. So that was what we did, and we focused on that.
“We didn’t think of our statistics of the past (straight-win record) and decided to just focus on today,” said Thinaah.
“We feel relieved because we were trailing, and they were leading after 11 points from the third set.
“But we just kept reminding each other to do our best on the court and focus on our gameplay,” added Pearly when the pair were interviewed by BWF after the match.
Tomorrow, Pearly-Thinaah will face another Thai opponent, sisters Benyapa Aimsaard-Nuntakarn Aimsaard.
Meanwhile, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, who were the last Malaysian men’s doubles pair standing, bowed out to Chinese Taipei’s Lee Yang-Wang Chi-lin in straight games, 19-21, 18-21.
Three more Malaysians are expected to start their matches today, estimated to be at 6.35pm.
They are women’s singles Goh Jin Wei, who is facing China’s Han Yue, men’s singles Ng Tze Yong, who will meet Denmark’s Magnus Johannesen, and mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai, who will clash with Indonesia’s Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas Mentari. – September 15, 2023