KUALA LUMPUR: There was no tame surrender, no early capitulation. Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah kept Malaysia's hopes going for as long as possible at the Paris Olympics today.
Malaysian fans were kept on the edge of their seats for 78 thrilling minutes.
When China's world No. 1 Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan easily won the first game 21-12, it appeared that the top seeds were going to make short work of the Malaysian duo in the women's doubles semi-final at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena.
But Pearly-Thinaah refused to be cowed by the occasion. They fought back and gave Qing Chen-Yi Fan a scare, taking the second game 21-18 to force a rubber.
Though they were the underdogs, Pearly-Thinaah fought tooth and nail, so much so it wasn't a mismatch between the world No. 12 and world No. 1.
Eventually, Qing Chen-Yi Fan prevailed, that's why they are the world numero uno, and won the deciding game 21-15.
Pearly said she and Thinaah managed to pressure the China pair in the second game and came out on top.
"We didn't want to give up easily after the first game, we wanted to fight and stay on the court as long as possible.
"We had nothing to lose, and I think they had more pressure to close out the match, so we took the opportunity to win the second game," Pearly told the BWF.
The 24-year-old added that they can learn from Qing Chen-Yi Fan not getting rattled from mistakes, and rallying immediately after.
"Sometimes when we lose focus and lose a point, we will continue to throw away points.
"They won't give you too many points in a row, mentally they are strong and that is why they are No. 1. This is something we can learn from them," said Pearly.
Thinaah is happy to have come this far at the Olympics after many had written them off as they were said to have been drawn in the "group of death".
"Many didn't believe in us at first. We just wanted to believe in each other.
"We are happy to come this far but we still have another match to go, and we have to stay focused and give it our best," said Thinaah.
Pearly-Thinaah will play off for the bronze medal against Japan's world No. 4 Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida tomorrow.