KUALA LUMPUR – Former international Datuk James Selvaraj is immensely impressed with the performance of Malaysia’s women’s doubles duo, Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah, at the Paris Olympics.
Speaking to Scoop, James said it was a joy to watch the world number 12 pair play at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena.
Pearly and Thinaah etched their names into the history books yesterday when they became the first Malaysian women’s doubles pair to reach the Olympic semi-finals.
Following up on their solid performances in the group stage, Pearly and Thinaah stunned South Korea’s world number 10 duo and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallists, Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong, 21-12, 21-13 in the last eight.
“I’m very impressed with how Pearly and Thinaah have been playing in Paris.
“It’s such a joy to watch them play; simply fantastic.
“Personally, I feel the girls are back to their best. Hopefully, they will be able to keep the momentum going,” said James, who also served as the Badminton Association of Malaysia’s high-performance director from 2010 to 2012.
On track to win a medal in their debut Games, Pearly and Thinaah will face China’s world number ones, Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan later today for a place in the final.
In the group stage last week, Pearly and Thinaah lost narrowly to the Chinese duo and finished second in Group A. – August 2, 2024