KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 — National women’s doubles shuttler M. Thinaah admitted that there are still many things that she and her partner, Pearly Tan, need to improve, especially in terms of physical fitness, after failing to clinch the 2024 Korea Open title last week.

She said both of them understood that extreme fatigue or Pearly’s injury should not be the excuse for them missing the first title of the season.

"We lost at the Korea Open final not because of Pearly’s injury. The Koreans prepared well for us, they did a good job, so we need to give credit to them. On our side, we need to improve on what we lack and just move forward.

"I think it’s definitely physical (fitness) that we need to keep improving. I know it is not easy but we are doing our best to keep up our physical fitness. I didn’t blame fatigue as a reason we lost, I was upset seeing the news saying we blamed fatigue as why we lost, so I need to correct that.”

The shuttler was met at the squad’s training session at the Malaysian Badminton Academy here today.

At the Korea Open final last Sunday, Pearly had to seek treatment after slipping on the court in the first set. The pair, however, went on to finish the game but lost to the home pair, Jeong Na Eun-Kim Hye Jeong 12-21, 11-21.

Meanwhile, Thinaah said she chose to continue the positive momentum from last week to their next tournament.

"We are still learning about that (crucial points), and we have been improving, but there is still more to learn.

"I think moving towards the Hong Kong Open next week, we just need to keep enjoying our game and keep up our positive momentum,” she added.

Last Tuesday, Pearly-Thinah climbed one spot to No.8 in the latest world rankings released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) after their runners-up finish at the 2024 Korea Open. — Bernama