Paris 2024 Olympics - Badminton - Women's Doubles Bronze Medal Match - Porte de La Chapelle Arena, Paris, France - August 03, 2024. Pearly Tan of Malaysia and Muralitharan Thinaah of Malaysia in action during the match against Nami Matsuyama of Japan and Chiharu Shida of Japan. REUTERS/Ann Wang
PETALING JAYA: National doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah are among the few Olympians who have stood solid in the Japan Open, as many others fall to the post-Olympics blues.
However, the duo will only face the first big test today when they take on world No. 3 Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning of China in the quarter-finals at the Yokohama Arena.
Yesterday, Pearly-Thinaah defeated Denmark opponents Julie Finne-Ipsen-Mai Surrow 21-10, 22-20 in the second round.
Pearly admitted it was not easy to get back on court after the Paris Olympics.
“It’s a challenge to shift focus. It’s really tough to get back fast on the court but we will continue to motivate one another,” said Pearly.
“We are not as fit as we were during the Olympics, and it will take time to get the momentum going again.
Pearly-Thinaah fought bravely to reach the bronze medal playoff in Paris before losing to Japan’s Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida.
Thinaah agrees they have room for improvement but is not going to make it easy on their next opponents.
“We still need to improve a lot but we are happy to be back to court so soon after Olympic Games,” she said.
“We just want to recover well and be better for tomorrow’s game,” added Thinaah, who will also compete at next week’s Korean Open with Pearly.
Many Olympians had withdrawn from the Japan Open while some like Anders Antonsen of Denmark retired just after a few points in the first round. Malaysia’s bronze medallist Lee Zii Jia also lost in the opening round.
Meanwhile, it was rather a good day for the men’s doubles as only Choong Han Jian-Mohd Haikal Nazri bit the dust. They went down fighting 21-16, 8-21, 15-21 to Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto of Indonesia.
Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, who had beaten Liu Kuang-heng-Yang Po-han of Taiwan 21-14, 24-22, will face Fajar-Rian next.
Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei and Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing also made it to the quarter-finals after beating Mads Vestergaard Christine Busch of Denmark and Ruttanapak Oupthong-Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat of Thailand respectively.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei face second seeds Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin of China while Kian Meng-Pei Jing meet Hong Kong’s Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet.
However, it’s all over for Leong Jun Hao who lost 23-21, 10-21, 15-21 to Kodai Naraoka of Japan. Men’s singles: Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) bt Leong Jun Hao 21-23, 21-10, 21-15.
RESULTS
Men’s doubles: Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto (Ina) bt Choong Han Jian-Muhammad Haikal Nazri 16-21, 21-8, 21-15; Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani bt Liu Kuang-heng-Yang Po-han (Tpe) 21-14, 24-22; Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun but Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi 21-16, 21-19.
Women’s doubles: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah bt Julie Finne-Ipsen-Mai Surrow (Den) 21-10, 22-20.
Mixed doubles: Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei bt Mads Vestergaard Christine Busch (Den) 21-13, 21-13; Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing bt Ruttanapak Oupthong-Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat (Tha) 21-12, 21-16.
