Kumamoto, Japan — Malaysia’s top women’s doubles pair, Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan, delivered a landmark performance on Sunday by becoming the first Malaysian pair ever to win the Kumamoto Masters, securing their third BWF World Tour title of the 2025 season.
🎥 Final Match Highlights:
A Dramatic Comeback to Capture the Crown
The world No. 2 pair stunned the home crowd with a brilliant show of resilience, recovering twice from big deficits to defeat Japan’s Rin Iwanaga/Kie Nakanishi, ranked seventh in the world, 22–20, 21–19.
The opening game saw Pearly–Thinaah fall behind 0–7 and later trail 15–20, but the Malaysians surged with seven straight points to steal the game 22–20 in a breathtaking turnaround.
The second game followed a similar script. Iwanaga–Nakanishi led 8–3 before the Malaysians clawed back, eventually closing out the match after 54 minutes.
This victory also extends their head-to-head lead to 6–2, repeating their triumph over the same Japanese pair at the 2025 Arctic Open last month.
Malaysia’s First Kumamoto Masters Champions
With this win, Pearly–Thinaah become Malaysia’s first-ever champions at the Kumamoto Masters since the tournament began in 2023—surpassing the country’s previous best result, Leong Jun Hao’s runner-up finish last year.
Their 2025 title haul now includes:
-
Thailand Open
-
Arctic Open
-
Kumamoto Masters
The pair earned USD 37,525 (RM155,071) for their victory, while the runners-up collected USD 18,050 (RM74,591).
Shortly after lifting the title, Malaysia’s women’s doubles head coach Rosman Razak confirmed that Pearly–Thinaah will not compete at the Australia Open in Sydney next week.
“They will skip the Australia Open. It’s time to rest, recover, and prepare for the SEA Games and the World Tour Finals,”
— Rosman Razak, via Malaysian media.
The pair will shift their focus to:
Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon finally broke her “Japan drought” after edging Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in a tense women’s singles final, 21–16, 22–20, capturing her second World Tour title of the year.
Despite Tunjung saving four match points in the second game, the former world champion held firm to secure the Kumamoto Masters crown. Remarkably, this is Intanon’s first title on Japanese soil after:
-
12 Japan Open appearances
-
2 Kumamoto Masters appearances
-
World Championships & Olympic campaigns in Tokyo
Ratchanok now leads their career head-to-head 10–3.
Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh / Supissara Paewsampran continued their excellent season by successfully defending their Kumamoto Masters mixed doubles title, outlasting France’s Thom Gicquel / Delphine Delrue 21–18, 14–21, 21–18.
This marks their:
