Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah have settled for bronze at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games after a hard-fought semi-final defeat to China’s world No. 1 Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning.
The Malaysian world No. 5 pair started strongly, winning the opening game 21-16, but the Chinese duo fought back to take the second 22-20 before sealing a 21-12 victory in the decider after 85 minutes.
Despite missing out on the final, Pearly-Thinaah end Malaysia’s 12-year wait for an Asian Games women’s doubles medal. They are the first Malaysian women’s doubles pair to win an Asian Games medal since Vivian Hoo-Woon Khe Wei took bronze at Incheon 2014.
They also match Malaysia’s best-ever Asian Games women’s doubles result, with previous bronze medals coming in 1962, 1970 and 2014.
Bronze for Pearly-Thinaah, but a medal after 12 years.
