KUALA LUMPUR – Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah missed out on being crowned the new Hong Kong Open champions after losing to the Indonesian pair Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti in the women’s doubles final today.
The Malaysians, ranked 10th in the world, lost 21-14, 22-24, 9-21 in 73 minutes at the Hong Kong Coliseum in Kowloon, which was also their third loss to the Indonesian top doubles pairing in five meetings.
While trailing 6-18 in the third game, Pearly was forced to take a short break due to an injury to what seemed to be her right ankle.
Leading to the final, the Malaysians displayed outstanding performance throughout the tournament, securing notable victories against Germany’s Linda Efler-Isabel Lohau in the first round and the 11th-ranked Thai sisters Benyapa and Nuntakarn Aimsaard in the semi-finals.
In their previous World Tour and International Challenge tournaments, the pair achieved two runners-up medals – in the 2019 Sydney International and the 2023 Malaysia Masters. – September 17, 2023