KOTA KINABALU: Pearly Tan and M Thinaah have made their own history as the first women’s doubles representatives from the country to reach the final of the World Championship after defeating a Japanese pair in the semifinals earlier today.
Although they entered as the second seed in the tournament, it was not an easy match for Pearly-Thinaah, as their head-to-head record favored Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida.
However, this did not stop them from delivering an impressive performance to secure their place in the final, winning in three sets with scores of 14-21, 21-13, and 21-12 in 68 minutes.
At the start of the first set, both pairs appeared evenly matched until the score reached 12-12. After that, a few easy mistakes from the national representatives allowed Matsuyama and Shida to pull ahead, scoring five consecutive points to win the set in 19 minutes and take the lead into the next set.
In the second set, Pearly-Thinaah realized they could not repeat the same mistakes and came back with more confidence, executing quick attacks and minimizing easy errors, while also preventing their opponents from setting up their own attacks.
Source – Harian Metro
