Pearly and Thinaah fall short in bronze medal match

20240803 214704 A screenshot of Matsuyama and Shida in jubilant mood after winning the bronze medal in the Paris Olympic Games.

MALAYSIAN women’s doubles shuttlers, Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, went down tamely to Japanese pair Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida in the Paris Olympic Games bronze medal match at the Adidas Arena in Port de la Chapelle today.

 

The match ended with a score of 21-11, 21-11, highlighting the dominance of the Japanese players, who have now won 10 out of their 11 encounters against the Malaysian pair.

 

Pearly-Thinaah’s only win over Matsuyama-Shida came in the quarter-finals of the 2022 French Open.

 

Despite the loss, Pearly-Thinaah made history by becoming the first Malaysian women’s doubles pair to reach the semi-finals, surpassing the previous record set by Vivian Hoo-Woon Khe Wei, who reached the quarter-finals in Rio de Janeiro 2016.

 

20240803 214533
Friendship triumphs as players hug each other after the bronze medal playoff.
20240803 214620
The Japanese players bow to thank their supporters and the fans.

 

During the match, Pearly and Thinaah committed numerous unforced errors against their Japanese opponents, showing signs of fatigue and inconsistency following their hard-fought semi-final defeat to world No. 1 Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan of China a day earlier.

 

20240803 214306
Thinaah and Pearly try to encourage each other to lift their game.

 

Credit must be given to Matsuyama-Shida for their impressive defensive and attacking skills. The Japanese pair had narrowly lost to the Chinese pair, world No. 3 Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning, in the semi-finals with a score of 16-21, 19-21.

 

Although victory over Pearly-Thinaah seemed relatively straightforward, both Matsuyama and Shida were visibly relieved and emotional after securing the winning point, with Matsuyama shedding tears of joy.

 

20240803 214755
The Japanese players celebrate their victory after Thinaah tries in vain to retrieve a shot.

 

Malaysia’s hopes for a medal now rest on the shoulders of the men’s doubles pair of Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and men’s singles player Lee Zii Jia.

 

20240803 211749

 

20240803 210318

 

Aaron-Soh will compete against Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarop Rasmussen of Denmark for the bronze medal in the third-fouth match playoff while Zii Jia, who ousted Anders Antonsen of Denmark 21-17, 21-15 in the quarter-finals, will face Thailand world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the semi-finals.

 

If Zii Jia triumphs over Kunlavut, he will compete in the final against the winner of the other semi-final match between Denmark’s Victor Axelsen and India’s Lakshya Sen.

 

Story and pix by K.H. Ong