KUALA LUMPUR — Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah stumbled in their bid to become the first Malaysian women’s doubles pair to land the Japan Open title, falling to world number one Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning of China in the 2025 final in Tokyo today.

The Super 750 final at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium began on level terms, with both pairs locked at 6-6.

However, the top-seeded and defending champions Sheng Shu-Tan Ning soon took control, ramping up the pressure to pull ahead 19-10 before closing out the first game 21-15.

Sheng Shu-Tan Ning picked up right where they left off in the second game, storming to a 4-0 lead and stretching it to 14-7 before winning at 21-14 to retain the title in 45 minutes.

The defeat dashed Pearly-Thinaah’s hopes of avenging last month’s Indonesia Open final loss to the same opponents, where they went down 25-23, 12-21, 19-21.

Today’s result also marked Pearly-Thinaah’s ninth defeat in 12 meetings against Sheng Shu-Tan Ning.

As the runners-up, Pearly-Thinaah pocketed US$33,250 (around RM141,000) while Sheng Shu-Tan Ning walked away with US$70,300 (about RM298,000) as champions.

The world number three pair also matched the achievement of Malaysian legends Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui, who were runners-up in the Japan Open 2008 edition.

The 2022 Commonwealth Games champions have had a good season so far, capturing the Thailand Open title in May and finishing second at the Indonesia Masters in January.