Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah have the perfect opportunity to build on their World Championships success when they head to the Hong Kong Open as defending champions.

Tan-Thinaah made history by becoming the first women’s doubles pair to win a silver medal at the world meet. Prior to this, no Malaysian women’s pair even made it to the semi-finals.

The world number two missed out on gold after a tantalizing three-game defeat against China’s world number one pair Tan Ning-Liu Sheng Shu last Sunday.

But it was almost a year ago that Tan-Thinaah clinched the Hong Kong Open title after beating Tan-Liu in straight games to secure the Super 500 event success.

Coincidentally, it was the last time the Malaysians beat this Chinese pair.

They have an opportunity to make it happen again next week, with Tan-Liu also scheduled to participate at top seeds.

If both pairs live up to expectations, we could witness another mouth-watering clash in the final.

Tan-Thinaah are seeded second and will face a Chinese Taipei pair in the first round.

Meanwhile, mixed doubles head coach Nova Widianto confirmed that world champions Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei will skip the Hong Kong Open due to fatigue.

The Indonesian also said he will be selective about the pair’s participation in competitions now that they have already qualified for the season-finale World Tour Finals in December.