Latest news with #Shengshu-TanNing
The Star
11 hours ago
- Sport
- The Star
Pearly-Thinaah target more feats after reaching world No. 2
PETALING JAYA: Women's doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan - are eyeing more milestones together after rising to a career high No. 2 in the latest world rankings. Pearly-Thinaah officially moved up one rung from No. 3 after their semi-final finish in the China Open in Changzhou last week and are now hungry for more achievements. The pair are the first Malaysians in the women's doubles to break into the world's top two since Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty, who reached No. 1 in the world in 2009. 'Slowly but surely. Another milestone and to breaking more barriers together,' said Thinaah via Instagram yesterday. Reaching the top two in the world is a well deserved achievement for Pearly-Thinaah as the pair have been in fine form this year. The duo captured the Thailand Open and finished runners-up in the Indonesian Open and Masters and Japan Open. Pearly-Thinaah progressed into the last four and final of a World Tour Super 1000 event for the first time in the Indonesian Open and also made it into their first Super 750 title match in Japan since capturing the French Open in 2022 Pearly-Thinaah, though, have some way to go to overtake current world No. 1 Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning from China. The formidable Chinese pair have opened up a significant gap at the top after amassing 111,634 ranking points while the Malaysians have 89,416 points. Shengshu-Tan Ning have been among Pearly-Thinaah's toughest opponents this year, notably denying them in the finals in Indonesia and Japan. Pearly-Thinaah do have an opportunity, though, to end the country's medal drought in the women's doubles in the World Championships from Aug 25-31 in Paris. The pair's No. 2 ranking will give them a better seeding in the showpiece event and they will avoid Shengshu-Tan Ning until the final. The official seedings will be released on Aug 8 while the draw for the tournament will be out on Aug 13. Pearly-Thinaah came closest to ending their wait for a medal in the last world meet in 2023 but narrowly lost to China's Zhang Shuxian-Zheng Yu in the quarter-finals in Copenhagen. They are now primed to go further and break down another barrier.
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."
