Pearly & Thinaah: Into the Olympic Semifinals

By Rolf Joho August 1, 2024 Badminton 0 Comments

In a brutal demolition of their Korean opponents Pearly Tan & Thinaah Muralitharan made history as the first Malaysian WD pair to reach an Olympic final. Wow, did they deserve this win.

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There was a focus and intensity about the pair of them right from the start. This was a death or glory tie, and they made the choice to go for glory. The first set went by in a flash. The attack was slick and the defence held steady. There was a quiet confidence about them as they went toe-to-toe with the Tokyo bronze medalists. One up 21-12. How would the Koreans respond? This was an unbelievable start.

Korea began the second set in a more composed way. The serve alternated as no-one was able to build momentum. 4-4. 5-5. 8-8. Then something flicked the attack switch inside Pearly and Thinaah’s game brains – the semifinals were calling, and they could not ignore the temptation to go for it.

Pearly in particular was adept at moving her opponents around to gain space to attack. She was always searching for angles to exploit. Thinaah was her reliable back-up. Nothing got past her. The Koreans started to run out of ideas as Malaysia edged ahead into the interval just ahead 11-8.

They were unrelenting as they played for a semi-final place. The score kept ticking up and they were so smooth in their partnership. The understanding between them and their faith in their strategy was incredibly resilient. Kim/Kong were still fighting hard and managed to claw back some points.

At 12-13 I was a little concerned as Pearly seemed to be having a minor hamstring twinge; suddenly the Koreans were level 13-13. Was this the anticipated fight-back?

Fearless and brave the Malaysian pair took deep breaths, refocused, and found a higher level. Their rivals were pressured into unforced errors; they were misjudging the drift, and their challenge was starting to fade. Pearly and Thinaah were hungry for points. They had not stepped on court to indulge the Korean’s love of long rallies. They were direct and determined. Still the score kept advancing in their favour.

There was nothing that Kim/Kong could do to counter this persistent attack. As the set progressed, they faded. As they faded, Pearly and Thinaah grew. 18-13, 19-13, 20-13 match point. Surely nothing could stop them now. Never in doubt! 21-13. What a performance.

If you enjoyed this then take a look at the article written by my friend Rene Biaoli http://badmintoniacs.wordpress.com