National women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah gained a major confidence boost after defeating reigning world champions Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games today.
Pearly-Thinaah won the quarter-final tie 22-20, 21-17, bringing Malaysia level against South Korea in the women’s team event.
The victory comes after the Malaysian pair had faced a dip in form in recent months following a lengthy recovery from injury. Their coaches had previously stressed the importance of rebuilding their confidence ahead of the Asian Games.
Despite Pearly-Thinaah’s win, Malaysia eventually lost the quarter-final 1-3 to South Korea and were eliminated from the women’s team event.
The pair will now shift their focus to the individual competition, which begins on Sept 25.
