KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 13 Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah believe they are gradually rediscovering their form after defeating Indonesia's world No. 9 Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti at the Indonesia Open today.
Pearly-Thinaah secured a morale-boosting 21-18, 21-19 victory over their Paris Olympics rivals, marking their most significant win in the past three months.
"This win really boosts our confidence, especially after a period of many setbacks," said Pearly.
"Today's victory makes us feel like our game is coming back."
The last time they overcame top 10 opponents was against China's world No. 1 Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan, during the All England.
Incidentally, top-seeded Qing Chen-Yi Fan stand in Pearly-Thinaah's path tomorrow
as they bid to reach their first-ever Super 1000 semi-finals.
A second win over Qing Chen-Yi Fan would certainly reestablish Pearly-Thinaah as strong contenders for a podium spot at the Paris Games.
Since the start of the season, Pearly-Thinaah have struggled with poor form, with their only notable performance being a semi-final appearance at the Malaysia Masters.
However, it's worth noting that in that tournament, they received a first-round bye and were hardly challenged by their lower-ranked opponents in their run to the last four.