Taipei Open: Both Aarons', Pearly-Thinaah settle for silver medal

Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah and Aaron Chia-Aaron Tai settled for a runner-up position at the Taipei Open after the national pairs were beaten in straight games by their respective opponents on Sunday.

In the women’s doubles, top seeds Tan-Thinaah went down 16-21, 18-21 to Japanese pair Sumire Nakade-Miyu Takahasi in a 40-minute encounter.

Truth be told, tt was a disappointing performance from the Malaysians who should have done better against the Japanese.

The world number looked sluggish throughout the contest and they struggled to match the intensity and determination of Nakade-Takahashi, who looked hungrier and more determined to win this final.

Chia-Tai fared much better against Indonesian pair Leo Carnando-Daniel Marthin in the men’s doubles final, but just lacked the cutting edge in their 21-23, 19-21 defeat.

Credit must however be given to the national scratch pairing, who were only playing in their second tournament together.

Despite lacking in chemistry, Chia-Tai did well to push the eighth seeds to the wire in both games.

They will take encouragement from this Super 300 event as they continue to build on their partnership.

But Chia-Tai will take a short break from playing with each other, as Chia will resume his partnership with Soh Wooi Yik ahead of the World Championships later this month.