KUALA LUMPUR, June 22 — Malaysian crack women’s badminton doubles pair Pearly Tan-M Thinaah hope to maintain their momentum in the Indonesian Open at the Malaysia Open to be held at Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil here from June 28 to July 3.
The world number 10 are scheduled to face world 22nd ranked pair Liu Xuan Xuan-Xia Yu Ting of China in the first round which will be their second meeting after a second round clash at the Thai Open last month which was won by Pearly-Thinaah.
Pearly expects them to face stiff opposition from the Chinese pair, but is still positive that they will be able to put on an excellent performance and is excited to be playing on home turf.
“Of course I am excited because at Istora Senayan, Jakarta the home crowd was there. I am looking forward to Malaysian fans being there (at Axiata Arena) and really looking forward to the competition...(however) the draw is really tough because (in) the first round we (will) play a tough Chinese pair.
“I think they are quite a good pair so it is really a tough draw for us but we just hope to keep the momentum going,” she said when met at Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM), Bukit Kiara here yesterday.
Pearly-Thinaah, who won the Swiss Open last year, advanced to the semi-finals of the Indonesian Masters at the Istora Senayan Stadium before exiting in the second round of the Indonesian Open, which also took place at the same venue last week.
Meanwhile, the 22-year-old said the announcement by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on the status of the Malaysia Open, which will be upgraded from Super 750 to 1000 in the World Tour, was further motivation for the national shuttlers to raise their game to a higher level.
“However, for me all supers are the same because all good players also come to join (Super 500, 750 & 1000), not so different, just hope to focus in every match,” she said, admitting that although BWF prize money was now higher, the mission to bring glory for the country was her priority.
Men’s doubles player Aaron Chia said: “Indeed, when you go up to 1000, for players there is more enthusiasm. Furthermore, playing at home, you can say in the biggest tournament among several tournaments, that injects confidence as well.
On Sunday, BWF announced the upgrade of the status of the Malaysia Open from Super 750 to Super 1000 starting next year until 2026. — Bernama
