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KUALA LUMPUR – Tactical savvy resembling the men’s doubles game shown by Malaysia’s leading women’s doubles pair, Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, has ushered in a new era in women’s badminton in the country.
This was the reaction of former national men’s doubles shuttler Koo Kien Keat the 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallists ended a 113-year title drought by winning the French Open at Stade Pierre de Coubertine in Paris, last night.
The unseeded pair upset fourth seeds and two-time world champions Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara of Japan 21-19, 18-21, 21-15 in the final, thus becoming the first Malaysian women’s doubles pair to win the title.
“I think this pair is the first Malaysian women’s doubles (pair) who have the overall skill set. Their tactical play witnesses a new era of badminton in women’s doubles which is somewhat similar to that of men’s doubles.
“Both can play at the back and in front, that’s why I think this pair are outstanding,” he said today.
Kien Keat said credit is also due to the Badminton Association of Malaysia’s coaching staff for organising the duo’s strategy to allow them build the character of “champions” on the court.
However, he said the journey of the pair, who are respectively aged 22 (Pearly) and 24 (Thinaah), has just begun and that pairs from other countries will “put them under a microscope” following the victory.
Kien Keat also reminded the world number 11 pair to continue to try and increase their confidence levels on court regardless of the opponents faced.
“Not only training, the mindset also needs to be right. For example, we can see how famed Japanese singles player Kento Momota is losing continuously, has lost confidence, and lost his own game style. So from now on the mindset has to remain positive and they must trust each other,” he said.
He was confident that the pair have matured and have the experience to face future “battles” to achieve more international level victories.
The French Open win was Pearly-Thinaah’s second championship title and their biggest success in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour series after winning the Swiss Open in March last year.
The closest a Malaysian women’s doubles pair has previously gotten to winning French Open title was in 2008 when Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui emerged as runners-up.
The French Open is a BWF Super 750 World Tour event, a level three tournament that offers prize money of US$49,950 (RM236,163) for the doubles winners and US$23,625 for the runners-up, in addition to BWF ranking points. – Bernama, October 31, 2022