True queens: Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah are all smiles after defeating Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara of Japan in the French Open final. — AP
PETALING JAYA: Trust is the key.
That’s why Pearly Tan is able to make a quick return to form from injury en route to winning the French Open title with M. Thinaah in Paris on Sunday.
The world No. 11 overcame Japan’s two-time world champions Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara 21-19, 18-21, 21-15 in the final to become Malaysia’s first-ever women’s doubles champions in the French Open series since its inception in 1908. It was their third big win after upstaging Indonesia’s top pair Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Ramadhanti (first round) and another Japanese pair, world No. 3 Chiharu Shida-Nami Matsuyama (quarter-finals).
What made it outstanding was that the duo were not even sure of competing in Europe about a month ago due to Pearly’s hamstring tear during the Japan Open but it has been a spectacular turnaround for the Commonwealth Games champions.
Pearly’s discipline and determination coupled with Thinaah’s faith that her partner will recover and regain her form saw the duo overcoming the injury scare and capture their biggest crown to date, the Swiss Open last year being their first world tour title.
They have also qualified for the World Tour Finals in Guangzhou where the top eight pairs will compete in the season finale from Dec 14-18.
Pearly said they were in disbelief but glad they pulled through.
“The most important thing is the trust between Thinaah and I and also the coach (Hoon Thien How),” said Pearly.
“It’s really unexpected and means a lot to both of us and a boost for our confidence.
“But there is still room for improvement. We just hope to keep this momentum, train harder and keep improving.”
The trust is something Pearly received from Thinaah who continued training and also skipped the Deepavali celebrations for a fourth year in row to be focused in their chase for glory.
“No words to explain this. Feel so happy that we could win this title especially after what Pearly went through last month,” said Thinaah.
“Europe has been a good place for us and it is also double joy as we have also qualified for the World Tour Finals.
“We are really happy that we can play at this level. This is the start I guess and we need to keep pushing to progress to a higher level.”
Pearly-Thinaah’s success should also be an eye-opener that Malaysian women are capable of producing results on the world stage and more emphasis should be provided for them in future.
Thien How should also be given the credit as he has now guided them (in assisting national doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky) to the victory in three tournaments – French Open, Commonwealth Games and Swiss Open.
Malaysia, in Pearly-Thinaah, have the quality to win a first in women’s badminton at the 2024 Paris Olympics but they programme should be tailor-made to achieve that objective.
FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Viktor Axelsen (Den) bt Rasmus Gemke (Den) 21-14, 21-15.
Men’s doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankyreddy-Chirag Shetty (Ind) bt Lu Ching-yao-Yang Po-han (Tpe) 21-13, 21-19.
Women’s singles: He Bingjiao (Chn) bt Carolina Marin (Spa) 16-21, 21-9, 22-20.
Mixed doubles: Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong (Chn) bt Robin Tabeling-Selena Piek (Ned) 21-16, 14-21, 22-20.
