Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah secured a bronze medal at the Asian Games in Aichi, Japan, but fell just short of the women’s doubles final after a 21-16, 20-22, 12-21 defeat to China’s Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning.
Semifinal Defeat at Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium
The Malaysian women’s doubles pair saw their run at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games conclude in the semifinals against China’s Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning. Thinaah won the opening game 21-16 before dropping the next two 20-22 and 12-21.
Despite the final result, the medal performance ended a 12-year wait for a women’s doubles podium finish for Malaysia at the Asian Games, matching the feat last achieved by Vivian Hoo and Woon Khe Wei at Incheon 2014.
Emotions and On-Court Reflections
Following the match, the pair appeared visibly emotional during post-match interviews, acknowledging the weight of the missed opportunity to reach the gold-medal match. Thinaah expressed gratitude to supporters who backed the duo through their ups and downs.
“First of all, I want to thank everyone for supporting us all the time,” Thinaah said in an interview with Hotspot Malaysia. “Even though we didn’t perform well, we are still slowly finding our own playing style, our strategy, our game and our communication. For those who have been supporting us from day one, I am really grateful and hopefully you guys keep supporting us in the future.”
Pearly reflected on the psychological side of the tournament, noting that she focused on enjoying the contest despite facing a challenging period marked by injuries.
“I think the biggest gain is that we were able to play these matches and slowly find our rhythm again,” Pearly said. “With every match, we are slowly getting back to the things we used to do well. So we are becoming more confident in each other and I hope we can continue to work hard in the tournaments to come.”
She added that maintaining a positive attitude helped her handle the intense rallies against the Chinese pair. “I think I had a smile on my face because I really enjoyed every point on court, whether I won or lost it. But I think we did our best, so for me, that is something to be happy about.”
Broader Badminton Results at the Asian Games
The defeat of Pearly and Thinaah marked the end of Malaysia’s badminton campaign at the Games. While the bronze medal provided a historic podium finish for the nation’s women’s doubles division, the overall campaign fell short of initial targets set by the contingent, which had aimed for at least one silver and one bronze.
Across other divisions in the semifinals, Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn defeated Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan 21-13, 21-15 in men’s singles, while Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew overcame South Korea’s Yoo Tae-bin 21-19, 19-21, 21-12. In men’s doubles, Indonesia’s Daniel Marthin and Leo Rolly beat South Korea’s Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae 21-11, 21-14, and China’s Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang defeated Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian and Shohibul Fikri 21-17, 13-21, 21-9.
In women’s singles, Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi defeated China’s Wang Zhiyi 21-11, 22-20, and South Korea’s An Se-young beat China’s Chen Yufei 21-5, 21-12. The other women’s doubles semifinal saw South Korea’s Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee defeat Japan’s Kie Nakanishi and Rin Uesaka 21-13, 21-12. In mixed doubles, Indonesia’s Amri Syahnawi and Nita Violina overcame China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping 21-12, 21-14, while China’s Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin defeated Chinese Taipei’s Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Gonzales 21-13, 21-9.
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