Latest news with #IndonesianOpen
The Star
a day ago
- Sport
- The Star
Back in the swing
Party time: Indonesia's Fajar Alfian (right) and Shohibul Fikri dancing in celebration after winning the China Open men's doubles final against Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik in Changzhou. — AFP PETALING JAYA: Men's doubles coach Herry Iman Pierngadi believes shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik are slowly regaining their best form heading into the World Championships from Aug 25-31 in Paris. Expectations were high on world No. 2 Aaron-Wooi Yik to continue their impressive run in the Japan Open in Tokyo last week but the pair suffered a shock first-round defeat at the hands of fellow Malaysians Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi. It was the duo's second first-round exit after suffering the same fate in the Indonesian Open in Jakarta in June. While the slip in Indonesia was due to the pair's exhausting run which included three back-to-back finals where they captured the Thailand Open and Singapore Open titles and finished runners-up in the Malaysian Masters, the capitulation in Japan was more worrying. Aaron-Wooi Yik, though, proved that it was only a blip when they roared back to reach the final in China. Although the duo could not crown their great run with the title after losing 15-21, 14-21 to Indonesia's scratch pair Fajar Alfian-Shohibul Fikri in Changzhou on Sunday, Herry is happy with his charges for bouncing back after the disappointment in Japan. 'Although they lost in the final, Aaron-Wooi Yik are getting back to their best,' said Herry. 'In the final, they lost due to Fajar-Shohibul's strategy which was spot on. The opponents controlled the net and put a lot of pressure on Aaron-Wooi Yik. 'They made it difficult for our pair to play like they did in the semi-final (against India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty). Our game plan simply didn't work this time. 'Overall, it's still a positive outing for us ahead of the World Championships,' added Herry. Herry is next looking to sharpen Aaron-Wooi Yik's game further in his bid to guide them to glory in the world meet. The pair remain Malaysia's best bet for gold in Paris. Aaron-Wooi Yik created history in 2022 by becoming the first Malaysians to capture the world title in badminton. The duo won bronze a year later in 2023 after they were denied in the last four by South Korea's Seo Seung-jae-Kang Min-hyuk, who went on to win gold. The competition was not held last year due to the Paris Olympics where Aaron-Wooi Yik came away with the bronze. Another fine outing in Paris in the world meet this time is not beyond reach for Aaron-Wooi Yik, especially under Herry, who has transformed them into multiple title winners. The pair claimed gold in the Asian Championships for the first time in April to go with their title triumphs in Thailand and Singapore and are hungry to add another world crown to their collection.
The Star
20-07-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Pearly-Thinaah need to find a formula quickly to unsettle China's world No. 1 pair
Pearly Tan (left) and M. Thinaah taking on China's Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning in their women's doubles final. — AFP 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.'
The Star
20-07-2025
- Sport
- The Star
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 on Sunday (July 20). 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 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. Our opponents put us under a lot of pressure and it wasn't the game we wanted to play." With the China Open starting on Tuesday (July 22) in Changzhou and the World Championships coming up on 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 tournament, the Malaysians could take on Shengshu-Tan Ning if both pairs make it into the final again. Pearly-Thinaah have vowed not to let the loss 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."
The Star
20-07-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Pearly and Thinaah runners-up in Japan Open final
PETALING JAYA: Women's doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah's hopes of capturing the Japan Open title were dashed after losing to China's world No. 1 pair, Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning. Pearly and Thinaah found the Chinese pair challenging and lost 15-21, 14-21 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Sunday (July 20). It was the world No. 3 duo's second defeat to Shengshu and Tan Ning in a final this year, following their runner-up finish to the same pair in the Indonesian Open title match in Jakarta last month. Despite missing out on the title, it was still an encouraging outing for Pearly and Thinaah, who reached their fourth final this year. The duo triumphed in the Thailand Open in May and finished runners-up in the Indonesian Masters in January, adding to their achievements in the Indonesian Open and Japan Open. Pearly and Thinaah will now turn their attention to the China Open, which starts on Tuesday in Changzhou.
The Star
19-07-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Unshakable trust and belief in each other the key to Pearly-Thinaah's run into final
National women's doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah posing after beating Indonesia's Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi in the quarter-final match of Malaysian Masters at Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil on Friday. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star PETALING JAYA: Women's doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah have attributed their strong run in the Japan Open to their unshakable trust and belief in each other. Yesterday, Pearly-Thinaah pulled off a sensational 21-13, 21-11 upset win over home favourites and bogey pair Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium to storm into the final. The world No. 3 pair have a poor record against the world No. 2 duo, only winning once in their past 13 meetings but this time, they overturned the script by delivering arguably their best performance this year to send their rivals packing in just 36 minutes and silence the home crowd. Pearly-Thinaah played with confidence and aggression throughout and did not allow Matsuyama-Shida much room to dictate play. The stunning win propelled Pearly-Thinaah to their fourth final of the year after capturing the Thailand Open and finishing runners-up in the Indonesian Open and Masters. "We communicated a lot and this really helped us in our game play and we really trust, believe in each other and support each other. I think that's more important than everything," said Pearly, in a post match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF). "Both of us were more patient today (yesterday) and just focused on our game. "We didn't want to rush to get points and this helped us a lot to win." The win has given the Malaysians a huge confidence boost as they seek to crown their fine run with the title today. Pearly-Thinaah though face a formidable challenge against China's world No. 1 Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning in the final. Shengshu-Tan Ning are also in top form and swept aside teammates and world No. 9 Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian 21-7, 21-16 to book their spot in the title match. Pearly-Thinaah will be seeking revenge against the Chinese duo after losing narrowly to them in the Indonesian Open final last month. Overall, Shengshu-Tan Ning hold the advantage over Pearly-Thinaah after beating them eight times in their past 11 meetings. Pearly-Thinaah's last win over the combo pair came in the Hong Kong Open final last September. Pearly-Thinaah will not be lacking in confidence though, after ending their long losing streak against Matsuyama-Shida. Their last and only win before this over the Japanese duo also came in a World Tour Super 750 tournament - the French Open in 2022. Then, Pearly-Thinaah took down Matsuyama-Shida in the last eight and went on to win the crown. Can they repeat that feat in Japan? The pair have a chance to create history by becoming the first Malaysians in the women's doubles to lift the Japan Open title. Thinaah hopes to raise her game once more with Pearly and deliver a memorable finish in the tourney. "We just want to rest well, prepare well and discuss with each other and also our coaches on how best to approach the final," said Thinaah. "We just hope to give our best tomorrow (today)."
