The world No 11 pair defeated Japan’s two-time world champions Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara 21-19, 18-21 21-15 in a hard-fought final in Paris tonight.

The Malaysian pair got off to a slow start losing three points in a row but bounced back to take an 11-8 lead during the break. They never gave the Japanese pair much of a chance as they raced to an 18-12 lead.

However, the Japanese pair fought back and narrowed the gap but the Malaysians prevailed 21-19 to win the first game in 16 minutes.

In the second game,  Matsumoto-Nagahara won 21-18 in 20 minutes to force a rubber.

It was a shaky start for the Malaysians when their rivals raced to a 6-2 lead but Pearly and Thinaah fought back to level the score at 6-6 in the first 10 minutes. It was a point for point battle with the Malaysians taking the lead at 11-8 during the changeover.

They then raced ahead with confident play to lead 18-12 but the Japanese pair fought back to take three consecutive points. But the Malaysians then went on to take the game and the match at 21-15.

Pearly and Thinaah, who won the Commonwealth Games gold medal, won their first World Tour final this year with tonight’s victory. They had reached the semi-finals at the Thailand Open (May), Indonesian Masters (June) and Malaysian Masters (July).