KUALA LUMPUR – There can be no shame in defeat for Malaysia’s top women’s doubles duo, Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah, who ended their sensational Paris Olympics campaign in fourth place today.
Having already made history by becoming the first Malaysian women’s doubles pair to reach an Olympic semi-final, the world number 12 duo lost 21-11, 21-11 to Japan’s world number four, Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida, in the bronze medal playoff at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena.
Despite their mammoth achievement, Pearly and Thinaah were still left in tears for falling short of finishing on the podium.
Speaking to the Badminton World Federation (BWF), Pearly said: “It’s really sad, and it hurts so much, but we just couldn’t stop our opponents from putting us under so much pressure.
“We really tried to change our game, but nothing worked. They prepared so well.
“We must accept this defeat and take the positives for the future.”
It is worth noting that prior to the start of the match, Matsuyama and Shida already had a superior 9-1 head-to-head record over the Malaysians.
Meanwhile, Thinaah admitted that it is high time she and Pearly start believing more in themselves.
“We really wanted to win the bronze, but to play until the final day of the competition (women’s doubles) is already a huge achievement.
“I know that coming into the Olympics, not many believed in us; in fact, we need to start believing in ourselves more.
“We hope our achievement here will also help inspire our juniors,” added Thinaah.
Pearly and Thinaah can definitely hold their heads up high, especially when they upset the form book by qualifying for the knockout stage as the second-placed pair in Group A, which was deemed the “group of death”.
Apart from losing narrowly to China’s world number ones Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan, Pearly and Thinaah staged a remarkable comeback to down two-time former world champions Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara in their second group tie, before going on to defeat Indonesia’s top duo Apriyani Rahayu and Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti.
In the quarter-finals, the Malaysians upset world number 10 and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallists Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong, before going down fighting to Qing Chen and Yi Fan in the last four.
“It’s going to take a while for us to digest everything, but we have some family and friends here.
“We’re going to take this time to unwind and spend some time with them before anything else,” said Thinaah. – August 3, 2024