Paris Olympics: Analyzing Pearly-Thinaah 'Group Of Death' opponents

Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah may have been voted into the 'Group of Death' (Group A) at the upcoming Paris Olympics, but the Malaysians stand a good chance of making it out to the knockout rounds as the other pairs.

Stadium Astro takes a look Tan-Thinaah’s past records against Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Ramadhanti (Indonesia), Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara (Japan) and Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan (China).

Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Ramadhanti

In six meetings, Tan-Thinaah have beaten the Indonesian pair three times, so this match-up on paper will start off as a 50/50.

But the national women’s doubles pair did win in their last meeting against Rahayu-Ramadhanti (world number nine) at the Indonesia Open in June, and they will derive plenty of motivation from that recent win.

All six meetings have been a fairly close affair, and we can expect both pairs to be engaged in long rallies.

Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara

Tan-Thinaah, now ranked 13 in the world, will always remember Matsumoto-Nagahara who are currently ranked sixth.

This is because the Malaysians notched their biggest career victory after beating this Japanese pair to clinch the French Open title in 2022.

It was a pulsating three-game victory that announced Tan-Thinaah as an elite combination who are capable of beating anyone on their day.

Since then, Tan-Thinaah have beaten Matsumoto-Nagahara twice, but lost to them this year at the Asia Championships.

They hold a 3-2 win advantage over this pair, and should be the favourites to win in Paris.

Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan

The world number one Chinese pair are among the favourites to win gold in Paris, and also favourites to top Group A.

Tan-Thinaah do not have the best record against Chen-Jia, having only beaten them once in seven meetings.

The Malaysians’ sole victory over the Chinese pair came this year at the All-England where Tan-Thinaah won in straight games.

They also gave Chen-Jia a good fight in their last meeting at the Indonesia Open.

It should provide motivation for them to go out and aim for an upset.