Pearly-Thinaah's Kumamoto title defence ends in first-round shock
KUALA LUMPUR: Defending champions Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah suffered only their second first-round defeat of the season after crashing out of the Kumamoto Masters in Japan against a Japanese pair featuring familiar nemesis Chiharu Shida on Tuesday.
Defending champions Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah suffered a surprising first-round defeat at the Kumamoto Masters in Japan, losing to a Japanese pair featuring Chiharu Shida and Ririna Hiramoto 18-21, 21-13, 21-14. The world No. 4 had previously reached at least the semi-finals in three consecutive tournaments, including the Asian Games semi-finals and titles at the Denmark Open and French Open.
The loss also ended an impressive run of three consecutive tournaments in which the duo reached at least the semi-finals. Shida and Hiramoto, ranked a lowly world No. 214, have shown promise in their new partnership, reaching the French Open quarter-finals last month. Pearly-Thinaah will now look to bounce back at the Hong Kong Open before the season-ending World Tour Finals in Hangzhou from Dec 9-13.
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