PETALING JAYA: Women’s doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (pic) will not take their foot off the gas as they bid to qualify for the prestigious World Tour Finals from Dec 11-15 in Hangzhou.
Pearly-Thinaah have been in fiery form lately and ended their two-year wait for a title when they captured the Hong Kong Open last month.
The pair also finished runners-up in the Korean Open just before winning the Hong Kong tourney.
In the latest world rankings, Pearly-Thinaah moved up one rung to No. 7 and are keen to end their year on a high by making the cut for the Tour Finals for the second time.
The duo made their debut in the tournament in 2022 but missed out on a spot last year.
Pearly-Thinaah have a good chance of qualifying this time as they are currently fifth in the Race to Hangzhou rankings.
Only the top eight pairs at the end of all the World Tour competitions this year before the Tour Finals will make the cut.
“After the Paris Olympics, our main target this year is the World Tour Finals,” said Pearly.
“We have continued to compete in tournaments after the Olympics because we want to qualify for the Tour Finals. We hope everything goes well and we get to qualify.”
Pearly-Thinaah want to fight on despite the hectic schedule after the Olympics that has seen several top pairs choose to skip tournaments.
“Of course everyone is tired but we are trying to find ways to hold on,” said Pearly.
“We are focusing on our physical training to keep our bodies fresh and to maintain our quality in matches.
‘‘For now, we are still coping well enough.
“Everything has been going smoothly during training and we want to keep our momentum.”
Pearly-Thinaah are also out to win more titles after their success in the Hong Kong Open.
The pair were relieved to finally get their hands on a title after their victory in the 2022 French Open and do not want to wait another two years to become champions again.
Besides the Korean tourney last month, Pearly-Thinaah also finished runners-up twice in last year’s Hong Kong tourney and Malaysian Masters
“No one wants to wait two years to win a title. We were relieved to get the title in Hong Kong after coming close a few times,” said Pearly.
“Now, we want to win more but at the same time, we don’t want to put too much pressure on ourselves.
“We still have a lot to improve on and we want to keep communicating well with each other and enjoy our game.”
Pearly-Thinaah will next compete in the back-to-back Arctic Open (Oct 8-13) and Denmark Open (Oct 15-20).
