KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's women's doubles pair Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah showed what they were made of when they advanced to the quarter-finals of the Paris Olympics at Porte de La Chapelle Arena on Tuesday.
Their coach, Hoon Thien How, said they are showing their true mettle at the Games.
He said the 13th-ranked pair successfully navigated through the 'group of death,' which featured three pairs within the world's top 10, through their commendable performance.
Pearly-Thinaah, who lost to China's four-time world champions Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan in their first Group A match on Saturday, bounced back to defeat Japan's two-time world champions Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara on Sunday.
In a do-or-die mission against world number nine pair Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti today, Pearly-Thinaah stunned the Indonesian pair 21-18, 21-9 to secure a spot in the quarter-finals.
"Based on the evaluation of these three matches, even though they lost the first match, their performance was actually better compared to before. I can see that in these three matches, they were able to play their true game.
"In this tournament, we see that their combination is good. They also motivated and encouraged each other throughout the matches," he told Bernama.
He added that they would prepare for the quarter-final round starting this Thursday, which will undoubtedly be more challenging.
The draw for the knockout rounds will be held after all group stage matches are completed tonight. – BERNAMA