Pearly-Thinaah need to find a formula quickly to unsettle China's world No. 1 pair
PETALING JAYA: Women's doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah need to find a way to overcome China's world No. 1 Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning fast.
Shengshu-Tan Ning ended Pearly-Thinaah's hopes of becoming the first Malaysians to win the women's doubles title in the Japan Open after beating them 21-15, 21-14 in the final at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium yesterday.
The world No. 3 pair have been in fine form this year but found the formidable Chinese duo hard to break down and lost in 45 minutes.
It was Shengshu-Tan Ning's second consecutive win over Pearly-Thinaah in a final after they also denied the latter in the Indonesian Open title match in Jakarta last month.
Last year, Pearly-Thinaah also faced their nemeses twice in finals and managed to win once in the Hong Kong Open but lost in the Arctic Open.
Overall, Shengshu and Tan Ning, who are only 21 and 22 respectively, now lead Pearly-Thinaah 9-3 in their head-to-head record.
On their latest defeat to the Chinese pair, Pearly told the Badminton World Federation (BWF): 'For today's (yesterday) match, our game plan didn't work. They read our game quite well.
'We couldn't overcome this and we need to learn from this match.'
Thinaah said: 'The most important thing for us is to be confident in ourselves no matter what the scores are in the match. The main thing is to be confident in what shots you want to play.
'Our confidence was affected a bit today (yesterday). Our opponents put us under a lot of pressure and it wasn't the game we wanted to play.'
With the China Open starting tomorrow in Changzhou and the World Championships coming up from Aug 25-31 in Paris, Pearly-Thinaah could face Shengshu-Tan Ning again and need to find a formula quickly to beat the pair.
In the China tourney, the Malaysians could take on Shengshu-Tan Ning if both pairs make it into the final again.
Pearly-Thinaah have vowed to not let the loss to the duo in Japan affect them too much as they look to maintain their encouraging form in China.
The pair have reached four finals this year, capturing the Thailand Open and finishing runners-up in the Indonesian Masters to go with their achievements in the Indonesian and Japan Opens.
'Recently, we have been playing quite well. So, I hope this match won't affect us in the future,' said Pearly.
'The good thing is we keep communicating and supporting each other, whether we win or lose.
'We hope to keep this momentum for our next matches. We will refocus and prepare well for next week.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
8 hours ago
- The Star
Badminton - Shi, Wang triumph in all-Chinese China Open finals as host dominates home tournament with four titles
China's Shi Yuqi celebrates after defeating compatriot Wang Zhengxing in the men's singles final at the China Open badminton tournament in Changzhou, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on July 27, 2025. -- Photo by AFP BEIJING (Reuters): Shi Yuqi and Wang Zhiyi lifted the men's and women's titles at the China Open on Sunday (July 27), prevailing in the all-Chinese finals to cap a golden week in Changzhou. It was another strong showing for world number three Shi following his Japan Open title last week. The 29-year-old came back from a game down to beat Wang Zhengxing 14-21 21-14 21-15 in little more than an hour. Wang had a narrow 7-5 lead early in the second game, but Shi took over from there, dominating the rallies and never trailing again. It was Shi's third Super 1000 title of the year after winning the Malaysia Open and the All England Open. In the women's final, defending champion Wang Zhiyi secured a dominant 21-8 21-13 win over Han Yue, who had advanced after South Korea's reigning Olympic champion An Se-young retired injured in the semi-finals. The 24-year-old world number two ended a frustrating run of three straight Super 1000 final defeats this year, all to world number one An. It was Wang's second title of the year, adding to her Malaysia Masters win, where she also beat Han in the final. Wang surged to a 13-4 lead in the opener and though Han tried to claw back in the second game, narrowing the gap to 17-13, Wang's sharp movement and relentless aggression helped her close out the match in just over half an hour. China's supremacy on home soil could not be questioned as foreign players fell at the semi-final stage in all formats except for the men's doubles, which was won by Indonesians Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri. The pair beat Malaysian second seeded duo Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi-Yik 21-15 21-14 and performed the viral "aura farming" Indonesian boat race dance in front of the Chinese crowd, much to their delight. It was the first time in a decade that an unseeded men's pair has won the China Open. In women's doubles, top seeds Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning overcame Zhang Shuxian and Jia Yifan 24-22 17-21 21-14. Top seeds Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping defeated second-seeded Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin 23-21 21-17 to clinch the mixed doubles title. (Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru Editing by Christian Radnedge) - Reuters
New Straits Times
9 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Qurratun'ain strikes Asian gold by a single pin
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's Qurratun'ain Izdihar Pozi delivered a nerve-jangling victory by clinching the girls' singles gold at the Asian Junior Tenpin Bowling Championships in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday. The 17-year-old held her nerve to finish just one pin ahead of China's Li Yi Ru, rolling a six-game total of 1,239 in the Under-18 continental meet. Taiwan's Ho Yi Qing completed the podium with 1,205. It was a proud moment for Qurratun'ain, who went two steps better than her bronze medal finish in the same event in last year, hosted by Malaysia. National youth teammates Adelia Nur Syazalee (1,197) and Balqis Nurdini Khairul (1,190) also impressed with top-five finishes. "I'm so happy to better my result last year with this victory," said Qurratun'ain. "It was definitely a close call, a win by the slimmest of margins, but a win is still a win, and I'm truly grateful. It's a reminder that every second, every move counts. "I'd like to thank all my coaches, coach Azidi and coach Alex, for their guidance, and our team manager, Maradona, for the constant support. And of course, a big shoutout to my teammates who brought full energy and kept the spirit high from the very beginning. This win is as much theirs as it is mine." Team manager Maradona Chok said: "I'm happy with the team's performance today — all the girls fought hard right to the very end," said Maradona. "Qurratun'ain handled the pressure well, especially after taking a slim lead from the fourth game and holding on until the finish. We came here as favourites, and we want to maintain this momentum." Qurratun'ain has been in fine form, having won the national youth title last year and placing third in the women's Open division at the recent Hong Kong Open. Her triumph sets the tone for Malaysia, who are eyeing a bigger medal haul this time around. The national team bagged three golds, two silvers and three bronzes to finish second overall when they hosted the tournament last year.
The Star
9 hours ago
- The Star
Swimming-Canada's McIntosh aces her 'biggest' night of world championships
Swimming - World Aquatics Championships - Women 400m Freestyle Final - World Aquatics Championships Arena, Singapore - July 27, 2025 Gold medallist Canada's Summer McIntosh celebrates on the podium after winning the final REUTERS/Edgar Su (Reuters) -Canadian Summer McIntosh was delighted to have made it through what she described as her toughest night at the world championships with a gold medal, saying her dominant showing on Sunday boded well for the remainder of the competition. McIntosh claimed gold in the women's 400 metres freestyle in three minutes and 56.26 seconds, nearly two seconds ahead of Chinese silver medallist Li Bingjie, with American great Katie Ledecky finishing in third place. The three-times Olympic champion did not have much time to savour her win, however, and exited quickly to prepare for the 200 individual medley (IM) semi-finals. Despite the tight schedule McIntosh was again in a class of her own, qualifying for the final more than a second ahead of her nearest rival. "While preparing mentally for this world championships, I thought tonight is my biggest night of the whole meet," the 18-year-old said. "So to come out with a gold medal and a really good, strong semi-final in the 200 IM, I'm really happy. "I've never done a double like that, and I think 400m free, at past world championships and Olympics, I haven't been at my best, and I haven't been where I wanted to be. "To finally stand in the centre of the podium is promising for the rest of the meet... I was very relaxed, just based off how I've been feeling this past couple of months, and especially in warm-up today, I felt really strong." McIntosh is coming into the competition on the back of a barnstorming Canadian trials last month, where she set world records in the 400 freestyle as well as the 200 IM and 400 IM. "I'm in the best shape of my life," she said. "So now I just have to act on that and put it into all my races." (Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
