"Need to Stay Calm”: Pearly-Thinaah Reflect on Asian Games Bronze After Semi-final Loss

Nagoya, Sep 28: Pearly Tan-M Thinaah's hopes of reaching the women's doubles final at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games were ended by a lack of composure at crucial moments as the Malaysian pair settled for bronze on Sunday.

The world No. 5 pair suffered a 16-21, 22-20, 21-14 defeat to China's world No. 1 Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning in a closely fought semi-final at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium.

By reaching the semi-finals, Pearly-Thinaah had already secured at least a bronze medal, with no bronze-medal playoff in badminton. Their semi-final defeat therefore confirmed them as bronze medallists, ending Malaysia's 12-year wait for a women's doubles medal at the Asian Games since Vivian Hoo-Woon Khe Wei won bronze at the 2014 Incheon Games.

Asian Games: A Strong Start For Pearly-Thinaah

Pearly-Thinaah made an encouraging start, taking the opening game and putting themselves in a strong position to challenge for a place in the final. However, the Malaysians were unable to maintain their composure when the contest entered its decisive stages.

The second game proved particularly costly. After trailing for much of the contest, Pearly-Thinaah fought back to level the score at 19-19 and then 20-20. The Chinese pair, however, held their nerve to claim the final two points and force a decider.

Sheng Shu-Tan Ning carried that momentum into the third game, establishing control before closing out the match 21-14.

Reflecting on the defeat, Pearly acknowledged that handling pressure better at key moments could have changed the outcome.

"What we can say is that during the important points, we were not calm enough. Even though they are younger than us, they are very mature and that is something we need to learn from them," said Pearly after the match.

"We need to learn from this mistake and always remind each other that during crucial points, we need to stay calm. I think that is a big lesson for us."

Thinaah echoed her partner's assessment, admitting that the Chinese duo managed the pressure more effectively when the match reached its most important moments.

"Like Pearly said, during the important points they did their job well and we were not calm enough," she said.

"But there are many positives we can take from this match and there are many things we need to learn from our opponents."

Focus On European Leg Of BWF World Tour

Despite the disappointment of missing the final, Thinaah said the bronze remained a positive achievement for Malaysia.

"It is a positive thing to be able to bring home a bronze medal for Malaysia. But there are still many things we need to improve and many things we need to learn from our opponents," she said.

"For now, we will look back at this match, discuss it and come back stronger at the next tournament."

The Malaysian pair will now shift their focus to the European leg of the World Tour, beginning with the Denmark Open from October 13-18, followed by the French Open from October 20-25.