Pearly Tan-M Thinaah showed that there is nothing more important than hard work when they booked their place in the final of the Swiss Open after beating ‘sisters’ Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean.
Following their loss to the same pair in Bangkok earlier this year, Pearly-Thinaah were determined to write a different script this time round.
And while they struggled to concede a 10-21 loss in the first set, Pearly-Thinaah changed the pattern of their game and their aggressive play turn things around as they took their second set 21-14 to drag the game to the decider.
The fierce exchange continued into the third set with Pearly-Thinaah not giving up as they shut down Mei Kuan-Meng Yean 21-16 to make the final.
“In the first set, we did not use the right strategy and was impatient. But we managed to regroup in the second and was in the attack a lot more. That made the difference,” said Pearly.
“In the third set, the focus was our mental strength. We were a bit nervous in the closing stages as the score was quite close. But we believe in each other and that gave us the points we needed.”
In the final, Pearly and Thinaah will take on the third seed from Bulgaria, Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva, who sprang a surprise on the top seed Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai from Thailand 21-16, 21-14.
“Tomorrow (today) we will play the Bulgarians in the final. We do not want to put too much pressure on ourselves because reaching this far, is already a good achievement for us,” said Thinaah.
“We will give everything for this one game and hopefully there will be a miracle. Again, the important factor is that we have to be patient and trust each other.”
In the meantime, men’s singles Lee Zii Jia fell short of a place in the final when he lost to young Thai player Kunlavut Vitidsarn 18-21, 10-21.
Men’s doubles singles, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik also fared no better when he lost the semifinal to Germany’s Mark Lamsfuss-Marvin Seidel 13-21, 21-13, 16-21.
The same fate befell mixed doubles, Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing when they succumbed to French pair, Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue 19-21, 10-21.
