KUALA LUMPUR – Competing in back-to-back tournaments, including the Paris Olympics, has taken a toll on Malaysia’s top women’s doubles pair, Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah.
Despite reaching their first World Tour final of the season, the world number nine pair had to settle for silver today after losing 21-12, 21-11 to Jeong Na-eun and Kim Hye-jeong in the Super 500 Korea Open final.
This means Pearly and Thinaah will have to wait longer to end their two-year World Tour title drought, having last won the 2022 French Open.
“Credit to the Koreans for being well-prepared and playing a good game. We accept this defeat, as we have also been feeling fatigued after playing in many long matches.
“This wasn’t the expected result, but we promise to do better in our next outing,” said Thinaah to SpoTV after the prize-giving ceremony.
During the match, both Pearly and Thinaah appeared to struggle with injuries, requiring medical attention at different times.
When asked if this affected their performance, Thinaah replied: “Not really, I don’t think it’s anything serious. Pearly had a bit of a slip in the first game, but she told me she’s fine.”
Pearly and Thinaah are now focused on getting adequate recovery time before resuming competitive action at the Super 500 Hong Kong Open in 10 days.
They are also expected to move up the world rankings this week. – September 1, 2024