Pearly-Thinaah Storm Into French Open Final After Stunning Fightback

PARIS, Oct 25 — Malaysia’s top women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah booked their place in the French Open 2026 final after producing a remarkable comeback victory over Japan’s Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi on Saturday.

Competing at Arena Grand Paris, the second-seeded Malaysians recovered from a huge deficit in the second game before securing a 21-17, 22-20 win in 47 minutes.

Pearly-Thinaah looked set for a deciding game after trailing 3-12, but mounted an impressive fightback, gradually closing the gap before drawing level at 18-18. The pair then held their nerve in a tense finish, saving pressure points to level again at 20-20 before sealing victory.

French Open Final

The win further strengthens their dominance over the Japanese duo, extending their head-to-head record to 9-2.

Pearly and Thinaah will now face either top seeds Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto of Japan or Indonesia’s Rachel Allessya Rose and Febi Setianingrum in the title decider of the BWF World Tour Super 750 tournament.

The Malaysian pair are chasing their third title of the season after triumphs at the Indonesia Masters in January and the Denmark Open earlier this month.

Earlier, independent mixed doubles pair Hoo Pang Ron and Lai Pei Jing also advanced to the final after defeating China’s Guo Xin Wa and Chen Fang Hui 21-13, 21-9 in the semi-finals.

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Pearly-Thinaah juara Terbuka Denmark, tamat penantian 18 tahun