PETALING JAYA: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah have enhanced their chances of breaking their duck against China’s world No. 1 Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan if their battling display against the Chinese pair in the Korean Open is anything to go by.
The national women’s doubles pair came close to claiming their first win in four meetings over Qingchen-Yifan in the second round but narrowly lost out 17-21, 21-17, 19-21 in a pulsating second round match in Yeosu on Thursday.
Despite the defeat, it was a morale-boosting performance for world No. 11 Pearly-Thinaah on their return to tournaments after the former’s elbow injury.
“Overall, their performance was good considering they were playing in their first tournament after pulling out from the Singapore and Indonesian Opens last month due to Pearly’s injury,” said doubles coach Hoon Thien How.
“They were brave and took the fight to their opponents.
“They could have won the first game after leading 15-8 but rushed to finish the game and lost some points.
“They need to learn from this and do better from now on but can take heart from their performance.”
Pearly-Thinaah’s display this time was much better than their 13-21, 15-21 defeat to Qingchen-Yifan in the World Tour Finals last December.
The Malaysians may now face a quick rematch against the Chinese pair in the second round of the Japan Open after both were placed in the upper half of the draw.
Before that, Pearly-Thinaah will have to beat another Chinese pair, Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning while Qingchen-Yifan should get the better of Canada’s Catherine Choi-Josephine Wu in the first round.
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