KUALA LUMPUR – Former Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) technical director Datuk James Selvaraj said that national women’s doubles duo Pearly Tan-M Thinaah were the better players in their quarter-final clash against Japan’s Rena Miyaura-Ayako Sakuramoto at the All England Championships yesterday.
Unfortunately, the national number one duo were defeated 21-11, 18-21, 18-21 in one hour and 13 minutes at the Utilitia Arena Birmingham.
In the second round, Pearly-Thinaah shocked world number one pair Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan from China 22-20, 21-16 in straight sets lasting 49 minutes.
“The Japanese pair was not very good. When Pearly-Thinaah won the first set I thought they were going to wrap this up in straight sets.
“Especially after seeing them beat the Chinese pair (Qingche-Yifan), they played so well and their strategy against the world number one was so well planned, hence why they won.
“But in the second set against Japan, I don’t know what happened. They became sluggish and could not pounce on the shuttle.
“Pearly started making mistakes and then Thinaah followed suit,” said James when contacted by Scoop.
James added that he was sad to see Pearly-Thinaah lose but admitted that he saw some positives in how they played.
He remarked that both players were playing well before succumbing to defeat, and they also seemed to be communicating with each other well.
Meanwhile, national coaching director Rexy Mainaky said that the pair must improve their physical conditioning.
“Pearly was rushing too much when trying to finish a point (which led to her errors).
“Both players need to work harder in improving their physical conditioning, endurance and strength,” said Rexy from Birmingham when contacted by Scoop.
Now, men’s doubles duo Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik are the country’s sole representative left in the draw.
They are facing Chinese Taipei world number 16 pair Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan in the semi-finals early tomorrow at 2.40am (Malaysian time). – March 16, 2024