Pearly and Thinaah reach Denmark Open final after straight-games win

Pearly Tan and M Thinaah are one win from the Denmark Open women’s doubles title after beating China’s Bao Li Jing and Cao Zi Han 21-16, 21-14 in Saturday’s semi-final at the SJF Bank Arena in Odense.

The victory made them the first Malaysian women’s doubles pair to reach the final in 18 years. Chin Eei Hui and Wong Pei Tty were the last to do so, winning the title in 2008.

Pearly and Thinaah arrived in Denmark without a specific target. They will now play for the title on Sunday against either Japan’s Hinata Suzuki and Nao Yamakita or Sumire Nakade and Miyu Takahashi.

A short turnaround after the Asian Games

Thinaah said the pair had wanted to enjoy their badminton and put their training into practice. They had just over a week after returning from the Asian Games before flying to Denmark.

“To be honest, we just wanted to enjoy the matches here at the Denmark Open. We came back from the Asian Games, had just over a week, then had to fly to Denmark,” she said.

“We wanted to give our best. We did well in training, so we wanted to apply that in the tournament here.”

Communication helped steady the pair

Thinaah was particularly pleased with how she and Pearly responded when their game became unsettled. She said their communication helped them pick up on the problem quickly and turn things around.

“The most important thing I’m happy about is the communication we had, especially when things weren’t going smoothly. We managed to pick that up quickly and turn it back around,” she said. Thinaah added that this was one of the areas they had been focusing on.

Pearly said playing an unfamiliar combination underlined the need to concentrate on what they could control. “We cannot control how our opponents play, but we can control our emotions and our gameplay on court,” she said.

One match left in Odense

Despite reaching the final in straight games, Thinaah said there were still things to take note of and be alert to before the next game. “Overall, we’re happy, but there are still things we need to take note of and be alert to for the next game,” she said.

Their final opponents remain to be confirmed between the two Japanese pairs. A win on Sunday would give Pearly and Thinaah the Denmark Open women’s doubles title, following the Malaysian success of Chin and Wong in 2008.