KUALA LUMPUR – The dream of Malaysia’s women’s doubles, Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, to advance to the semi-finals of the All England was shattered after losing to Japan’s Rena Miyaura and Ayako Sakuramoto today.
Despite Pearly-Thinaah’s strong start and dominance in the first set, they ultimately succumbed 21-11, 18-21, 18-21 against the world number 11 pair.
The last time Malaysia had representatives in the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the All England was through Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty in 2007.
For Pearly and Thinaah, the defeat today was quite disappointing, especially after they seemed poised to create another historic upset at the championships following their victory against China’s world number ones Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan yesterday.
“We are quite disappointed, but we are on the right track. We keep pushing our limits, showing more fighting spirit, and hope we can improve our consistency.
“They (Miyaura-Sakuramoto) are really strong at defence, and it is not easy to kill their shots. Plus, their patience is also their winning point, so we need to learn from them,” said Pearly in a post-match interview with the Badminton World Federation.
Although their journey in the All England has come to an end, the Malaysian pair have shown improvement in their performances throughout the tournament.
“Not to say that we are happy with it, but compared to the past few tournaments that we played, there are some changes, so we hope to continue working hard and come back stronger,” said Thinaah.
Next, they will prepare for the Badminton Asia Championships, scheduled in Ningbo, China from April 9 to 14. –Scoop
