THE nation’s top women’s doubles pair, Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah missed out a glorious chance to bag their first title on home turf after going down to South Korea’s Baek Ha Na-Lee So Hee in the Malaysia Masters 2023 final today. 

Pearly-Thinaah got off to a shaky start as they were behind 4-6 before the umpire stopped the game for four minutes to allow Pearly to seek medical treatment for an injury - the Malaysians led 19-16 then. 

The Koreans then took advantage of the situation to chase the score and close out the opening game’s 22-20 win. 

Deafening cheers from home fans inside nearly-packed Axiata Arena, pumped up Pearly-Thinaah’s spirits as they were in cruise control from start to finish in the second set to force the game into the decider after roaring past Ha Na-So Hee, 21-8. 

After trailing 10-16 in the final set, the sixth seeds stretched themselves to the limit while Ha Na-So Hee stood firm to fend off Pearly-Thinaah’s last-ditch effort to stage a comeback.   

Luck was on the unseeded South Koreans’ side as they secured the title after a 21-17 victory in a nail-biting contest that lasted 101 minutes.

Speaking after the match, Pearly was disappointed for not winning the first set and attributed a lack of fitness as the main factor that led them to settle for the runner-up spot in their first Super 500 final. 

She also admitted that they started to lose focus after Ha Na-So Hee took the lead during the third set interval.  

Pearly said she almost vomited before the end of the final set due to fatigue. 

“Of course, this year had many ups and downs; it was a good start for us but we are not satisfied and hope we can be better. We just need to go back, do analysis and come back stronger,” she told reporters when met after the match. 

Since early this year, Pearly-Thinaah’s best achievement leading up to the Malaysia Masters 2023 was reaching the semi-finals three times, starting from the India Open 2023 and Indonesia Masters 2023 in January followed by the German Open 2023 in March. 

Today’s result meant Pearly-Thinaah failed to end an 11 year-title drought for Malaysia. Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty was the last Malaysian women’s doubles pair to win the Malaysia Masters when they defeated Singapore’s Shinta Mulia Sari-Yao Lei, 21-18, 21-18 in the 2012 final. 

Despite the loss, the current world number 11 pair received cash of US$15,960 (RM73,416) while Ha Na-See Hoo received US$33,180. – Bernama, May 28, 2023.