KUALA LUMPUR: Women's doubles pair Pearly Tan–M. Thinaah put months of injury setbacks and personal heartbreak behind them to claim their first title since January at the Denmark Open today.
The Malaysians defeated Japan's Hinata Suzuki–Nao Yamakita 21–18, 21–11 in 36 minutes in the final at the SJF Bank Arena in Odense to secure their second title of the season.
The victory earned Pearly–Thinaah US$70,300 and made them the first Malaysian women's doubles pair to win the tournament since Wong Pei Tty–Chin Eei Hui in 2008.
For Pearly, standing atop the podium with Thinaah carried added meaning after everything they had endured together.
"I think we are getting stronger again after the past few months. A lot has happened to both of us, with injuries and good and bad things," said Pearly.
"I'm very happy to go through all this with Thinaah. To stand on the highest podium today means a lot to us. But we don't want to stop here. We want to move forward and keep improving."
Their previous title came at the Indonesia Masters in January, when Japan's Arisa Igarashi–Miyu Takahashi withdrew from the final. That walkover victory ended Malaysia's 15-year wait for the crown since Vivian Hoo–Woon Khe Wei's success in 2011.
Pearly's season was subsequently disrupted by a recurring back injury at the Badminton Asia Championships in April, forcing her to miss the Uber Cup, Thailand Open and Malaysia Masters while undergoing rehabilitation.
Thinaah, meanwhile, lost her grandmother on Aug 21 before her pet rabbit, Roger, died three weeks later.
The pair began turning their fortunes around by bagging bronze at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games last month.
They ended Malaysia's 12-year wait for a women's doubles medal at the Games and were the country's only badminton medallists.
In Odense, they identified their quarter-final comeback against India's Treesa Jolly–Gayatri Gopichand as the turning point of their title-winning campaign.
Pearly–Thinaah trailed a game and 14–9 before fighting back to win 14–21, 21–17, 21–11.
"We got too emotional and carried that into a few points. But we reminded each other not to leave any regrets. We didn't want to lose that way," said Thinaah.
"We picked ourselves up and wanted to fight for each rally and each point, and play more aggressively. I think that was the main turning point."
Pearly said keeping expectations in check also helped them handle the final against Suzuki–Yamakita.
"Every pair is getting stronger, faster and more aggressive. Coming into this tournament, we didn't want to put too much pressure on ourselves," she said.
"We just wanted to enjoy our game, the environment and the conditions here. That's what we did."
Thinaah said they would allow themselves a brief celebration before returning to work.
"We're really happy to win this title. We can celebrate tonight with a good dinner, but the focus starts again because we're travelling to Paris the next day," she said.
Pearly–Thinaah will next head to the French Open, seeking to build on their Denmark success.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd