KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 8 — Winning their maiden Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour title at the Swiss Open last night has increased the confidence of and motivation for women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah.

The unseeded pair became the first Malaysian women’s doubles combination to win a World Tour crown in over two years, after Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean claimed the Syed Modi International Badminton Championships in November 2018.

Boosted by the victory, 23-year-old Thinaah said they would be facing future tournaments, including the All-England from March 17-21, with higher determination.

“This is a great win for both of us because it helped to build our confidence and motivation to move forward for future tournaments,” she said in a video posted on the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) Facebook page.

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Pearly and Thinaah created history as the first Malaysians to win a women’s title at the Swiss Open after defeating world number 14 and third seeds Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva of Bulgaria 21-19, 21-12 in their maiden World Tour final at St Jakobshalle, Basel.

Pearly, 20, and Thinaah, 23, also stunned national team seniors Mei Kuan-Meng Yean 10-21, 21-14, 21-16 in the semi-finals on Saturday.

Meanwhile, former World Junior Championship silver medallist Pearly hopes to continue their winning momentum and fighting spirit in upcoming tournaments.

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“I am really happy with our overall achievement in the Swiss Open because I think we gave our best for every match and fought until the end. So I hope we can keep up this momentum and keep improving for the upcoming tournaments,” she said.

The Swiss Open crown is a major breakthrough for Pearly and Thinaah in their senior career, after having won the Bangladesh International Challenge and India International Challenge titles in 2019 prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. — Bernama