Badminton

[updated] Pearly-Thinaah suffer shock first round defeat

KUALA LUMPUR: National women's doubles Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah were served a reality check when they were sent packing in the first round of the Super 1000 Malaysia Open today.

The World No 6 pair looked dejected after the match in front of an equally stunned crowd at Axiata Arena following their 21-19, 21-14 loss in straight games to Bulgarian sisters Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva.

For the record, Pearly-Thinaah have not won a single match since winning the French Open title in October last year.

Certain that it has nothing to do with their off court commitments and pressure, Pearly-Thinaah have vowed to put the defeat behind them, as they shift their focus towards the India Open next week, and the Indonesia Masters after that.

"It wasn't a good match for us, we didn't play well. Our strategy and game plan didn't work for us," Pearly lamented.

"Our opponents controlled the shuttle and draught much better today," she added.

Despite scoring four straight points to narrow the gap 20-19 in the first game, the Malaysians just couldn't swing the momentum back in their favour.

"They pressured us in the second game, and with the wind, their attacks were really aggressive. We were poor on our part, we need to go back and work on these areas.

"We want to put this defeat in the past, because we only have one week to work on our weakness, and come back stronger for the next tournament," Thinaah said.

When asked if there was too much distraction following their French Open heroics, Pearly said: "We don't think too much about what people say (or happens on the side). We always want to give our best in every match, and in training.

"Sometimes, things don't work out, we just have to work harder."

Gabriela-Stefani, will play India's Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand Pullela in the second round on Thursday.

With Pearly-Thinaah out of the competition, the remaining Malaysian women's doubles are Go Pei Kee-Teoh Mei Xing, who were promoted from the reserve list, and their first round opponents, independent duo Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien.

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