KUALA LUMPUR, June 2 — The country’s top women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah are optimistic that they can continue their fine form at the 2023 Singapore Open next week.

Thinaah said they have moved on from the dramatic display of fighting spirit at the 2023 Malaysia Masters last week which saw them come tantalisingly close to lifting their first title on home turf before going down fighting to the indomitable South Korean pair of Baek Ha Na-Lee So Hee 20-22, 21-8, 17-21 in one hour and 41 minutes.

"Our preparation for the Singapore Open is going well at the moment. Past is past, we don’t want to think about the Malaysia Masters anymore.

"We hope to improve more strategy-wise, on game play and to be more aggressive,” she said after a training session here today.

In the meantime, the 25-year-old shuttler said her condition was all good now after she almost "tossed her cookies” (nausea) during the final in Axiata Arena, last Sunday.

"I have never experienced this (nausea) before, my condition is all good (back to normal) now,” she said.

Asked whether they can close the gap with the other pairs in the top five ranking, Thinaah said they do not want to think much about it and will just enjoy their game on court.

Despite losing in the final in Kuala Lumpur, Pearly-Thinaah won the hearts of Malaysians with their highly-spirited display as well as enduring four marathon matches lasting five hours and 54 minutes in total.

It was amazing that the world number 11 pair were on court for at least one hour for each of the four matches from the second round until the final, although Pearly had just recovered from influenza recently.

The 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games champions also created a world record of sorts by playing a 211-shot rally when they beat Japan’s Rena Miyaura-Ayako Sakuramoto 21-18, 8-21, 21-19 in a one hour and 51 minutes duel in the quarter-finals.

At the Singapore Open (June 6-11), Pearly-Thinaah will open their campaign against Japanese duo Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi. — Bernama