Pearly-Thinaah reach French Open semis after swift win

Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah moved into the French Open semi-finals on Friday with a 21-12, 21-15 victory over Bulgaria’s Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva in Paris. The world No. 4 pair needed just 39 minutes to reach their second semi-final in as many weeks.

The Malaysians, seeded second, have yet to drop a game at the tournament. Their run follows last Sunday’s Denmark Open triumph and keeps alive their chance of winning World Tour titles at consecutive tournaments for the first time.

Confidence returns after difficult spell

The result extended Pearly and Thinaah’s head-to-head record against the Stoeva sisters to 5-1. It also continued a strong two-week stretch after an inconsistent middle part of the season, when they suffered early exits at several major tournaments.

They reached the Taiwan Open final in July and won Asian Games bronze last month, but had struggled to reproduce the form that brought them three World Tour titles last year. Pearly said their recent performances had helped rebuild confidence following injury setbacks.

“After the injury, we’ve been doing well these two weeks. I’m very happy that we’ve regained our momentum and confidence,” she told the Badminton World Federation after the match. “We’re enjoying ourselves on court and trusting each other. Our bond on court is very strong.”

Pearly was pleased with their patience against the Bulgarian sisters, though she acknowledged that they briefly hurried their play. “We did a lot of discussion, and I think we did well with our patience. Towards the end, we were rushing a little, but we kept reminding each other and managed to get back on track,” she said.

Japanese pair await in semi-final

Pearly and Thinaah will face Japan’s third seeds Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi in Saturday’s semi-final. The Japanese pair advanced by beating compatriots Ririna Hiramoto and Chiharu Shida 21-18, 16-21, 21-15.

The Malaysians lead their head-to-head meetings with Iwanaga and Nakanishi 8-2 and have won the last four encounters. Those victories include the Arctic Open and Kumamoto Masters finals last year, but Thinaah said recovery would be vital before their next match.

“Mentally and physically, we need to be well prepared, especially with our recovery,” she said. “We’re grateful to have our mentor and physio with us. They’ve been helping us a lot with our recovery.”

Another final within reach

Pearly and Thinaah won their breakthrough French Open title in 2022. They have also won multiple World Tour titles in a season, but have never taken titles at consecutive tournaments.