Gritty Pearly-Thinaah march into semi-finals in Olympic first

August 1, 2024

Gritty Pearly-Thinaah march into semi-finals in Olympic first

PETALING JAYA: Shuttlers Pearly Tan-M Thinaah became the first Malaysian women’s doubles pair to reach the badminton semi-finals at the Olympics after defeating South Korea’s Kim So Yeong-Kong Hee Yong in a pulsating quarter-final match in Paris today.

Malaysians in the crowd at the Porte De La Chapelle Arena erupted in celebration when their world No. 12 pair overcame the 2021 Tokyo Olympics bronze medallists in straight games, 21-12, 21-13.

The Malaysians took about 37 minutes to overcome the South Koreans who are ranked world No. 10. The pairs have only met once before, in the 2021 World Tour Finals, which So Yeong-Hee Yong won.

Following this win, Pearly-Thinaah will meet the world No. 1 pair, China’s Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan, who defeated the world No. 21 Bulgarian sisters Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva in the other quarter-final in straight games, 21-15, 21-8.

The Malaysians lost to the top-seeded Chinese pair 17-21, 20-22 in their opening group stage match.

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Pearly-Thinaah got off to a rousing start in the first set today, taking advantage of their nervous opponents to establish a commanding 7-0 lead within four minutes.

Leading 11-5 at the break, they went on to take the set easily by 21-12 in 16 minutes.

In the second game, the Korean pair upped their game to take an early 2-0 lead, but were pinned back by the Malaysians to a narrow 7-6 lead in the opening seven minutes.

Pearly-Thinaah then turned the game around with accurate shots and quick smashes to take an 11-8 lead into the break.

The second set continued in a point-for-point battle until 13-13, when Pearly gave Malaysians a scare by seeking medical treatment on her thigh.

The brief stoppage did not affect the Malaysian duo as they went on to take the game 21-13 in 21 minutes, with the Koreans giving away several easy points.