Pearly-Thinaah have every reason to make Europe count this month

It was around this time last year that Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah discovered one of their careers' best outing, a record the pair will aim to emulate this year. 

Fresh off securing a bronze medal at the Asian Games, the Malaysians will now turn their attention to the upcoming World Tour action in Europe. 

Surprisingly, the world number five will not be defending their Arctic Open women's doubles title which they won last year as their names were not listed in the draw of the event which begins next week. 

The move makes sense as Tan-Thinaah need more time to recover, both physically and mentally from the Asian Games. 

Eventhough they came home with bronze medal, both shuttlers would l still bear the pain of missing out on the final having came so close. 

Against the world number one pair and their top nemesis Tan Ning-Liu Sheng Shu, Tan-Thinaah came within two points of reaching the final. 

In the end, they lost for the 11th time in 14 meetings against the Chinese pair. 

In their four matches against Tan Ning-Liu last year, Tan-Thinaah painfully lost three times in three finals to settle for second, and most recently only for bronze. 

The pair also publicly revealed they were dealing with different challenges in the lead-up to the Asian Games, with Tan finding for confidence after a back injury scuppered her career this year. 

For Thinaah, it was more personal with the loss of her grandmother and pet dog. 

But both these women are strong characters, they have weathered the storm and are now ready to work even harder to correct their deficincies. 

Last year October, they won the Arctic Open and the Japan Masters a month later. 

They may not be aiming to win both the Denmark Open and French Open later this month, but just the desire to go out and compete with a right mindset should be good enough for a great performance.