Pearly-Thinaah, who moved up one rung to No 8 in the BWF rankings last week, won 21-14, 21-14 in a match that lasted just 35 minutes at the Hong Kong Coliseum in Kowloon.
They became the first Malaysian pair to win the women’s doubles title at the Hong Kong Open.
This is also their first title this year in the BWF Super 500 series after coming close at the Korean Open last month when they lost to another Chinese pair in the final. They last won a BWF Super 500 series title at the French Open in 2022.
They have been having a good run this year, having entered two finals after being placed fourth at the Paris Olympics in July.
With this win, Pearly-Thinaah have now won twice in their five meetings so far against Sheng Shu-Tan Ning in international tournaments.
In what was possibly one of the best matches they had played in their career so far, Pearly-Thinaah took complete control of the court and often returned shots that had the Chinese pair going the wrong way.
With Pearly despatching her deceptive drop shots with superb accuracy coupled with Thinaah’s mesmerising cross-court returns, Sheng Shu-Tan Ning seemed to have no answer to the tenacious Malaysians, who showed excellent teamwork.
Both pairs started on a cautious note in the first game, trying not to make unforced errors. After eight minutes, Pearly-Thinaah led 11-10 at the break after trailing 8-10. They extended the lead to 18-13 quickly before giving away one point. The Malaysians then went on to win 21-14 in 16 minutes.
The second game saw the Chinese pair take a quick 2-0 lead but Pearly-Thinaah fought back to take the next seven points in a row and led 7-2 within four minutes.
Again, the Malaysians displayed super courtcraft with some brilliant tactical play, setting each other up for the kill at the net. They led 19-9 at one point and finally won the game 21-14 in 19 minutes.
In an audio clip shared by BWF after the match, Thinaah dedicated the victory as a gift to Malaysian fans in conjunction with Malaysia Day tomorrow.
“We never really thought about it (the first Malaysian women’s pair to win the doubles title at the Hong Kong Open), so we are really happy. It helps us to be more confident.
“(At match point) I think both of us were thinking about the same thing, finish the game faster. However, we made silly mistakes which we should not have but we will take note and be more cautious (in the future),” Bernama quoted her as saying in the clip.
Pearly said their good communication was the key to the victory and hopes the momentum can continue in their upcoming tournaments.