KUALA LUMPUR: Women's doubles Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah could face their Japanese nemeses Chiharu Shida-Nami Matsuyama once again as they return to action at the Japan Open next week.
World No. 4 Shida-Matsuyama dashed Pearly-Thinaah's hopes for a bronze medal during the Paris Olympics, clinching a dominant 21-11, 21-11 win in the playoff match.
Notably, this win marked Shida-Matsuyama's 10th triumph over the Malaysians in 11 encounters, underscoring their continued dominance in the rivalry.
The 12th encounter could take place as early as next Friday, should both pairs advance to the quarter-finals in Kanagawa.
While Pearly-Thinaah have proven successful against other Japanese pairs, boasting a favourable head-to-head record against two-time world champions Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara (4-2) and a near-even contest with Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota (3-4), they have struggled to overcome Shida-Matsuyama.
Pearly acknowledged that the pair urgently needs to find a winning strategy against the formidable Japanese duo, whom she described as "more difficult" opponents to handle.
"Compared to the other Japanese pairs, Shida-Matsuyama are more difficult to play against," Pearly said during a recent press conference.
"During the Olympic match, they had us under their control. They were so well-prepared that it was extremely hard to win even a single point from them despite our best efforts.
"This is definitely something we need to overcome."
Now back in the world's top 10, Pearly-Thinaah will seek to build on their positive momentum from the Paris Games.
They made history by becoming the first Malaysian pair to reach the semi-finals of the women's doubles event at the Olympics.
Their impressive run ended by eventual gold medallists Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan in a hard-fought three-game match.
At the Japan Open, Pearly-Thinaah will face world No. 19 Li Yi Jing-Luo Xu Min of China in the first round.
A win would likely pit them against Japan's Kie Nakanishi-Rin Iwanaga in the last 16, a pair against whom they hold a 3-1 head-to-head advantage.
If they could somehow edge past Matsuyama-Shida in a potential quarter-final clash, they would likely face one of the South Korean pairs in the semi-finals.
World No. 2 Baek Ha Na-Lee So Hee, Lee Yu Lim-Shin Sheung Chan, and Kim So Yeong-Kong Hee Yong – whom Pearly-Thinaah defeated in the Paris Games quarter-finals – are all drawn in the same top quarter.