KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 6 Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, who made waves with their stunning performances this year, are determined to carry their positive momentum into the 2025 season, starting with the Malaysia Open on Jan 7-12.
The Malaysian women's doubles pair enjoyed a strong 2024 campaign, highlighted by victories at the Hong Kong Open and runner-up finishes at the Korea Open and Arctic Open.
However, it was their historic run at the Paris Olympics in August that truly turned heads.
Pearly-Thinaah became the first Malaysian women's doubles pair to reach an Olympic semi-final, narrowly missing out on a medal after finishing fourth.
Their season concluded at the World Tour Finals (WTF) in Hangzhou, where fatigue appeared to take its toll.
Pearly-Thinaah struggled in the group stage, losing all three matches.
Despite the setbacks, the duo found a silver lining in their final group match against China's world No. 1 Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning.
They pushed the Chinese pair to three games before falling 9-21, 21-18, 18-21 at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium.
"We remain positive despite not advancing from the group stage in Hangzhou," said Pearly.
"We managed to rediscover our rhythm against Sheng Shu-Tan Ning, and we hope to carry that momentum into the Malaysia Open.
"Playing on home soil is special, and we want to deliver our best badminton for the audience to enjoy, whether we win or lose."
In earlier matches at the WTF, Pearly-Thinaah were defeated by Japan's world No. 3 Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida and India's Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand Pullela.
Looking ahead, Pearly is focused on staying fit and refining their game to meet the challenges of the new season.
Thinaah, meanwhile, highlighted their debut Olympic performance and their Hong Kong Open triumph as the standout moments of 2024.
"There were ups and downs this year, but we want to take the positives and carry them forward into next season," said the 26-year-old.