Pearly Tan and M.Thinaah Malaysia’s top women’s doubles pair’s World Championship campaign ends after a challenging three-game defeat in New Delhi, India.
The Malaysians were were defeated by Indonesia’s Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Meilysa Trias Puspitasari in the last 16 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on Thursday.
Pearly and Thinaah started strong in the opening, but the Indonesian pair got back stronger to secure 20-22, 21-18, 21-12 victory.
The defeat was Pearly and Thinaah’s second loss in the 7 meetings against Febriana and Meilysa. They entered the match with a strong 5-1 head-to-head record over their opponents. Their previous game was at the All England quarter-finals in March where Pearly and Thinaah won with 21-9, 21-18.
The result ended Pearly and Thinaah’s hopes to repeat their historic achievement from last year’s World Championships.
At the 2025 edition in Paris, the pair made history by becoming the first Malaysian women’s doubles team to reach a World Championship final, eventually bringing home the silver medal.
Pearly and Thinaah had also shown steady progress at the tournament over the years. In 2021, they reached the second round, followed by the last 16 in 2022 and the quarter-finals in 2023, before making their breakthrough run to the final last year.
This time, their journey ended in the last 16, bringing a early close to their step for another World Championship medal.
Sources: Nst
