Pearly-Thinaah exit worlds after letting game plan slip
Malaysian badminton pair Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah were eliminated in the third round of the World Championships after a loss to Indonesia's Febriana Dwipuji and Meilysa Trias. The duo attributed the defeat to a failure to stick to their game plan and being drawn into their opponents' style of play.
Why it matters
The loss marks a significant setback for Malaysia's women's doubles prospects on the international badminton stage.
PETALING JAYA: It was not the result Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah wanted as their World Championships campaign came to an end in the third round.
Pearly-Thinaah, who were among Malaysia’s medal hopes after finishing runners-up at the previous edition, were unable to produce their best against Indonesia’s Febriana Dwipuji-Meilysa Trias and went down 22-20, 18-21, 12-21 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
The defeat was unexpected as Pearly-Thinaah had won five of their previous six meetings against the Indonesians, including their All-England quarter-final clash in March.
Thinaah felt they paid the price for allowing themselves to be drawn into their opponents’ game instead of sticking to their own plan.
“I think towards the end we started to follow the opponents’ game. We weren’t sticking to our original plan and the opponents did well to break our strategy.
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