KUALA LUMPUR: Women's doubles Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah are determined to come back stronger at the World Tour Finals (WTF) in Hangzhou on Dec 11-15 after completing the gruelling season at the China Masters today.
The world No. 6 Malaysian duo found the going tough against China's world No. 1 Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning, and were beaten 21-16, 21-17 in a 48-minute quarter-final match today.
The hectic season this year saw Pearly-Thinaah competing in 19 tournaments with reaching the Paris Olympics semi-finals the highlight of their splendid run.
Pearly-Thinaah won the Hong Kong Open besides finishing runners-up at the China and Arctic Opens.
They will be making their third WTF appearance after having played in the season-ending tournament in 2021 and 2022.
Thinaah is looking forward to doing well in the event after missing qualification for last year's edition, also in Hangzhou.
"The WTF will be our last tournament this year. Our momentum is getting there, but we are still not consistent. We still have time and will come back stronger at the tournament.
"We are trying our best to overcome the shortcomings and matches like this (against Sheng Shu-Tan Ning) will help us to learn and rectify our errors.
"Alertness is something we need to improve, and we also need to improve on covering each other," said Thinaah.
Pearly believes that the camaraderie between them has always been the key to overcoming tough situations.
"Our combination is built on trust and communication, and these are the main attributes that have been helping us to play better and better," said Pearly.
"We have to keep this close bond on court to see further progress."
Pearly-Thinaah failed to clear the group stage at the WTF in their previous attempts and will be hoping for an improved performance in Hangzhou next month.