French Open: Silver linings from 2 lion-hearted Malaysian pairs

Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah and Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing finished with silver medals at the French Open, and can return home with their heads held up just for their efforts to reach the final.

Tan-Thinaah, who played first, lost to the top seeded Japanese top pair Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto 21-10, 17-21, 16-21 in a gruelling 64-minute battle in Paris on Sunday.

The Malaysians, who came into this match on a nine-match winning run, started on the front foot and attacked the Japanese throughout the first game for a deserved lead.

But that high-intensity levels eventually took its tool in the deciding match as Tan-Thinaah ran out of steam.

"Physically we were not good. In the third game, they were still strong and fast. But our legs were slow and that costed us the match.

"However we take positives from this tournament. We believe in each other more than ever," they said.

It has been sensational outing in Europe for Tan-Thinaah despite losing in this final.

They have gone from strength to strength since the Asian Games where they returned with a bronze medal, and just last week won the Denmark Open in style where they only dropped a game the whole week.

Here in Paris, they showed their resilience by digging into their reserves, both physically and mentally, to reach the final.

Throughout the week both shuttlers admitted that physical lethargy was taking a toll on them, but each time they prevailed to reach Sunday's showcase.

Hoo-Lai, who played after Tan-Thinaah, also went down to their top seeded Chinese opponents Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping 10-21, 13-21.

The Malaysians, who only decided to pair in May to test this partnership, also beat all odds to reach their second Super 750 final in a month.

As it turned out, they lost to the same opponents whom they played at the China Masters final last month.

Hoo-Lai admitted their world number one opponents were simply a class above.
"This time, we tried to go with a different strategy, but they are just too tough for us.

Despite the loss, we will continue to work hard. There's work to be done in our partnership, especially in our chemistry on court. Our strategy is still kind of random, and we need to work on that," they said.

Hoo-Lai will jump into the world top 30 after this performance, and they also know they are able to raise their game as a pair after just a short time together.

Hoo-Lai came to Paris after a good outing at the Denmark Open last week where they reached the semis.