KUALA LUMPUR: Despite crashing out in the semi-finals of the Malaysia Masters on Saturday, women's doubles Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah believe they are on the right track leading up to the Paris Olympics in July.
World No. 13 Pearly-Thinaah, playing in their first tournament since the Asian Championships in April, fell short in their bid to reach their second consecutive Malaysia Masters final after suffering a shock 21-16, 21-11 defeat to South Korea's world No. 26 Lee Yu Lim-Shin Seung Chan at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil.
Disappointed, the former French Open champions said they are slowly regaining their best condition.
"Our opponents played a really good game. We need to go back and work out our strategy with our coaches, and also ourselves," said Thinaah in the post-match interview.
Additionally, Pearly noted that she and Thinaah were happy to finally get back on court and communicate well again.
"We are excited to return after not playing in tournaments (since April).
"The positive is we are communicating a lot on court. Whenever things go wrong, we discuss it. That's a good thing," added Pearly.
With two more tournaments (Singapore and Indonesia Opens) remaining before they focus on their Olympics preparation, Pearly-Thinaah see themselves slowly shifting into top gear.
"I think communication is crucial for the both of us on the court. Only we can let each other know what's going on during a match at the end of the day.
"We have to keep going and try to do better," said Thinaah.
When asked if they had any issues with their physical condition, Pearly replied: "Everything is good so far. It's just our strategy that we need to work on."
Last year, Pearly-Thinaah reached the final before losing to South Korea's world No. 2 Baek Ha Na-Lee So Hee.