PETALING JAYA: Goodbye, old rival Chen Qingchen!

World No. 2 Pearly-Thinaah have bid farewell to one of their strongest opponents Qingchen of China after the latter decided to retire from the sport and announced it at the French Open.

On Friday, Pearly-Thinaah lost 16-21, 16-21 to Qingchen and her partner Jia Yifan in the quarter-finals at the Glaz Arena in Cesson Sevigne.

And yesterday, the 28-year-old Qingchen and Yifan were surprisingly beaten 16-21, 17-21 by teammates Li Yijing-Luo Xumin in the semi-finals in what turned out to be their last appearance in an international competition together.

Pearly-Thinaah have only beaten the China pair once in nine meetings, and it was achieved at the second round of the All-England last year.

Qingchen will leave behind a remarkable legacy after capturing numerous titles with her partner including gold in the Paris Olympics last year and four World Championships crowns (2017, 2021, 2022, 2023).

Yifan though is not ready to quit just yet and will resume her partnership with Zhang Shuxian.

Qingchen did not state the reason but she has been battling with illness after the Paris Olympics and in fact, played with younger partners for a while before the reunion for the last dance in France.