TOP national women’s doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah stormed into the final of the Malaysia Masters 2023 at Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur today after beating South Koreans Jeong Na Eun-Kim Hye Jeong 21-19, 23-21.

Amazingly, the Malaysians did it by having to fight back from 6-11 and 2-11 down in the first and second games as well as recover from two long rallies – 186 shots in the first game and 151 shots in the second – en route to qualifying for their first-ever Super 500 final.

If the first-game fightback was remarkable, the second was simply incredible as they clawed their way back from 2-11 down to slowly but surely reel the Koreans in before holding their nerves for a 23-21 win after one hour and 32 minutes.

Pearly-Thinaah will square off against another South Korean pair – Baek Ha Na-Lee So Hee, who ousted Japan’s Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara 21-19, 21-14 – in tomorrow’s final.

Pearly attributed their come-from-behind victory to their ability to stay patient and enjoy every point won.

“I don’t think it (winning) is real because the past few matches have been really tiring… all the fans here really gave us the motivation to go through all of this.

“(After trailing 2-11 in the second game), Thinaah and I decided to just enjoy every point, make every point count and be patient… it worked!” she told reporters when met at the mixed zone.

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s final against Ha Na-So Hee, Pearly said they will not take them lightly, although they had beaten the South Koreans 21-13, 21-17 in the 2022 French Open semi-finals.

Pearly-Thinaah, the current world no. 11, created history when they beat Matsumoto-Nagahara 21-18, 21-18 to clinch the 2022 French Open title, becoming the first national women’s doubles pair to achieve the feat since its inception in 1908.

Tomorrow, Pearly-Thinaah will try to emulate the feat of Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty, who were the last Malaysian women’s doubles pair to have won the Malaysia Masters when they defeated Singapore’s Shinta Mulia Sari-Yao Lei, 21-18, 21-18 in the 2012 final. – Bernama, May 27, 2023.