Japan Open: Pearly Tan leaves court on wheelchair in tears after knee injury

A pain stricken Pearly Tan won the hearts of Malaysians after playing through the pain barrier before calling it quits and having to be stretched off in a wheelchair in her and M.Thinaah’s match-up in the Japan Open second round.

Tan-Thinaah had started off well and took the lead with a 21-13 victory in the first game.

But midway through the second game, play was momentarily stopped as Tan asked for medical attention as she grimaced in pain holding her left knee.

Astonishingly, the medical team allowed her to continue playing on and Tan herself looked okay to resume.

The Malaysians lost that game 19-21, and so it went to a decider.

But it became apparent Tan was struggling to move on court, with Thinaah working overtime to close the spaces.

Tan felt the full brunt of the pain as the pair trailed 11-16, and she had to be helped off the court by Thinaah before leaving the arena on a wheelchair in tears.

The men’s doubles, meanwhile, saw Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi reach the quarter-finals after they overcame French pair Christo-Toma Junior Popov 21-13, 21-13.

The eighth seeds play a South Korean or Indonesian opponent next.

In the mixed doubles, Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing also came through after they battled past Chinese Taipei duo Yang Po-hsuan-Hu Ling Fang 21-14, 11-21, 21-15.

The Malaysians next face China’s Wang Yi Lyu-Huang Dong Ping for a place in the semis.

Hoo Pang Ron-Toh Ee Wei also beat their Dutch opponents in three games, but face a daunting task against top seeds Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong in the last eight.

Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien, meanwhile, lost in straight games to world champions Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan.

Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai were also no match for Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino in the mixed doubles.