Indonesia Open: Pearly-Thinaah miss out on title after going down to world number one pair
A major title continued to elude the country's top women's doubles pair, Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, as their maiden Super 1000 title hopes were dashed after falling to world number one pair, Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning from China, during the Indonesia Open 2025 final at Istora Senayan here, today.
In a fierce 87-minute match, the world number four seeded pair lost 25-23, 12-21, 19-21 in the tournament after putting up a strong fight, including winning the first set.
The unseeded pair managed to bounce back from an 8-14 deficit in the opening set to secure a 25-23 victory, but the opponents' dominance in the subsequent two sets saw Pearly-Thinaah fail to maintain their momentum.
Currently ranked fourth in the world by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), Pearly-Thinaah tried to recover from deficits multiple times, but the Chinese pair managed to maintain their advantage until the end.
After the match, Pearly explained that there was still much to learn and improve to enhance their performance, especially their 'mindset,' despite playing with high spirits.
'We were actually in a good position, we should have been able to finish the match with an advantage. But towards the end, maybe we lost a little focus.
'Actually, from the beginning of the game we already felt tired, but we reminded each other to keep fighting, because this was the last match. We just wanted to give everything we had on the court,' Pearly added.
Meanwhile, Thinaah said they would use the time this month to fully rest and recover their energy as there are no major tournaments coming up soon.
This defeat sees Pearly-Thinaah once again become runners-up in Jakarta, after also reaching the final of the Indonesia Masters earlier this year.
However, their consistent performance strengthens their reputation as one of the main contenders in the women's doubles event at the world level.
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