MALAYSIAN women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah were unable to break their losing streak against Japan’s world No. 4 duo, Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida, at the World Tour Finals (WTF) in Hangzhou today.
In a closely contested Group A opener, the world No. 6 Malaysians fell 13-21, 21-17, 21-18 after a tense 74-minute match.
This defeat marked Pearly-Thinaah’s 11th loss in 12 encounters with Matsuyama-Shida.
With this loss, the Malaysians now face a must-win scenario in their next group match against India’s Treesa Jolly and Gayathri Gopichand tomorrow (Thursday), as they aim to stay alive in the “Group of Death.”
In a separate match, world No. 1 duo Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning of China battled back from a set down to defeat Treesa and Gayathri 20-22, 22-20, 21-14 in 48 minutes.
