Malaysian women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan will compete for a bronze medal after losing to the No.1 Chinese pair, Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yifan, in the semi-finals of the women’s doubles event at the Olympics 2024, held at Porte de La Chapelle Arena, Paris.
In a tough match lasting 78 minutes, Pearly and Thinaah were edged out in three sets. The Malaysian pair started shakily, losing the first set 12-21. They then rebounded with a more polished performance to win the second set 21-18, forcing a decider. Despite providing fierce competition in the final set, they ultimately fell short, with Qing Chen and Yi Fan securing a 21-15 victory to advance to the final.
This was Pearly and Thinaah’s second defeat against the world’s top-ranked pair at the Paris Olympics, having previously lost 17-21, 20-22 in the Group A rankings last Saturday.
Last night, Pearly and Thinaah made history as the first Malaysian women’s team to advance to the semifinals of the Olympic Games after defeating the South Korean pair, Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong, who won the bronze medal in the last edition, with a score of 21-12, 21-13.
Pearly and Thinaah will now face either another Chinese pair, Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning, or the Japanese representatives, Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida, in the bronze medal match.
Credit Photo : OCM
