Pearly-Thinaah more confident after tasting maiden World Tour title

KUALA LUMPUR: Winning their maiden Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour title at the Swiss Open Sunday night has increased the confidence of and motivation for women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah. The unseeded pair became the first Malaysian women’s doubles combination to win a World Tour crown in over two years, after Chow Mei KuanLee Meng Yean claimed the Syed Modi International Badminton Championships in November 2018.

Boosted by the victory, 23-yearold Thinaah said they would be facing future tournaments, including the All-England from March 17-21, with higher determination.

“This is a great win for both of us because it helped to build our confidence and motivation to move forward for future tournaments,” she said in a video posted on the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) Facebook page.

Pearly and Thinaah created history as the first Malaysians to win a women’s title at the Swiss Open after defeating world number 14 and third seeds Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva of Bulgaria 21-19, 21-12 in their maiden World Tour final at St Jakobshalle, Basel.

Pearly, 20, and Thinaah, 23, also stunned national team seniors Mei Kuan-Meng Yean 10-21, 21-14, 21-16 in the semi-finals on Saturday.

Meanwhile, former World Junior Championship silver medallist Pearly hopes to continue their winning momentum and fighting spirit in upcoming tournaments.

“I am really happy with our overall achievement in the Swiss Open because I think we gave our best for every match and fought until the end. So I hope we can keep up this momentum and keep improving for the upcoming tournaments,” she said.

The Swiss Open crown is a major breakthrough for Pearly and Thinaah in their senior career, after having won the Bangladesh International Challenge and India International Challenge titles in 2019 prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. - Bernama