World No.1 Chinese Pair Denies Pearly-Thinaah Japan Open Glory
The Super 750 final at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium began on level terms, with both pairs locked at 6-6.
However, the top-seeded and defending champions Sheng Shu-Tan Ning soon took control, ramping up the pressure to pull ahead 19-10 before closing out the first game 21-15.
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Sheng Shu-Tan Ning picked up right where they left off in the second game, storming to a 4-0 lead and stretching it to 14-7 before winning at 21-14 to retain the title in 45 minutes.
The defeat dashed Pearly-Thinaah's hopes of avenging last month's Indonesia Open final loss to the same opponents, where they went down 25-23, 12-21, 19-21.
Today's result also marked Pearly-Thinaah's ninth defeat in 12 meetings against Sheng Shu-Tan Ning.
As the runners-up, Pearly-Thinaah pocketed USD33,250 (around RM141,000) while Sheng Shu-Tan Ning walked away with USD70,300 (about RM298,000) as champions.
The world number three pair also matched the achievement of Malaysian legends Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui, who were runners-up in the Japan Open 2008 edition.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games champions have had a good season so far, capturing the Thailand Open title in May and finishing second at the Indonesia Masters in January.
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