PARIS: National women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah advanced to the quarter-finals of the 2024 Paris Olympics, after another upset victory in their last Group A match, Tuesday.
The 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games gold medallists, who were in a do-or-die mission in the ‘group of death’ match, stunned world number nine Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti of Indonesia 21-18, 21-9 at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena here.
In the nerve-wracking match, the world number 13 Pearly-Thinaah had to fight closely in the first set, before notching a dominating win in the second after a 45-minute battle.
The Olympic debutants, who lost to China’s world champions Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan on Saturday, bounced back to pull off a pleasant surprise by beating two-time world champions Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara from Japan on Sunday to revive their hopes.
SPONSORED CONTENT 800 expected at Sabah CEO Master Class 2024 on August 8 Kota Kinabalu: Wish to know and learn meaningful lessons and entrepreneurial journeys from giant business owners who also faced various hard challenges and succeeded in overcoming them? . Read more Earlier, the four-time world champions Qing Chen-Yi Fan topped the group after beating Matsumoto-Nagahara 21-16, 21-15.
The only time Malaysia had a women’s doubles representative in the quarter-finals was at Rio 2016, when Vivian Hoo-Woon Khe Wei went down against eventual champions Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi
In Paris 2024, men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and mixed doubles Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei have secured quarter-finals slots, while professional shuttlers Lee Zii Jia (men’s singles) and Goh Jin Wei (women’s singles) would know their fate after their second group stage matches on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Tang Jie-Ee Wei, will have a better opportunity to qualify for the semifinals, following a favourable draw.
The draw for the quarterfinals held on Monday night, saw the country’s only hope in the mixed doubles competition, taking on South Korea’s Kim Won Ho-Jeong Na Eun, ranked 8th in the world, on Wednesday.
Based on the head-to-head record, Tang Jie-Ee Wei have a slight edge over their Korean opponents since they have won two of their three previous encounters.
After having lost to the Korean pair in their first meeting at the German Open, Tang Jie-Ee Wei registered two consecutive victories, namely at the Asian Championships and China Open in 2023.
A win against Won Ho-Na Eun will see the country’s mixed doubles, currently ranked number nine in the world, face South Korea’s leading mixed doubles pair Seo Seung Jae-Chae Yu Jung or Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet from Hong Kong.
The remaining two quarterfinal matches will see two Chinese pairs, Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong the top seeds, take on Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping, the second seeds, while Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino from Japan face Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai from Thailand.
Meanwhile, Malaysian badminton squad team manager Datuk Teoh Teng Chor expressed confidence in the mixed doubles pair’s ability to qualify for the semifinals.
“But we go step by step, hopefully we can proceed from there. They performed very well, hopefully they will keep themselves focused, have a good rest before the game, and it (medal) can happen.
“Our players have performed exceptionally well, hopefully they increase the momentum as this is the best time for them to prove themselves after having been training for so long,” he said after the draw.
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