Did you know? Malaysia had two pairs in the French Open 2026 finals, here's what happened

Malaysia doesn't often send two pairs into finals day at a Super 750 event. At the French Open 2026, it did. Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (women's doubles) and Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing (mixed doubles) both played on the last day in Paris, 25 October.

Both came home as runners-up. But as you'll see, the scorelines don't tell the whole story.

French Open 2026 at a glance

• Level: BWF World Tour Super 750, one tier below Super 1000 events like the All England.
• Dates: 20 to 25 October 2026.
• Venue: Arena Grand Paris in Tremblay-en-France, on the outskirts of Paris.
• Total prize money: USD950,000.

Pearly-Thinaah: first game won, then the defending champions struck back

Pearly-Thinaah, the second seeds and world No. 4, faced Japan's top seeds and defending champions Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto.

They started brilliantly, taking the opening game 21-10. The Japanese pair then found their rhythm and won the next two.

The match lasted 64 minutes. The loss denied them a second French Open title, after their first win back in 2022.

They'd already shown plenty of fight on the way. In the semi-final, Pearly-Thinaah trailed 3-12 in the second game against Japan's Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (world No. 5) and still won 21-17, 22-20.

Did you know? Just a week before Paris, Pearly-Thinaah won the Denmark Open. They also won the Indonesia Masters back in January.

Pang Ron-Pei Jing: Malaysia's first-ever French Open mixed doubles final

This is the part many people might have missed. Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing became the first Malaysian mixed doubles pair to reach a French Open final in the tournament's 117-year history.

Even better, they only teamed up in May and came in ranked world No. 31. In the semi-final they swept aside China's sixth seeds Guo Xin Wa-Chen Fang Hui 21-13, 21-9 in just 31 minutes.

In the final they met China's world No. 1 pair, Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping, who were simply too strong and won 21-10, 21-13.

It was Pang Ron-Pei Jing's second final of the season. Their first, at the China Masters in September, also ended in defeat to the same pair.

How much do runners-up take home?

According to Bernama and Kosmo, each runner-up pair earned USD33,250 (about RM135,836). The champions received USD70,300.

So no winner's trophy this time, but both Malaysian pairs still left Paris with solid prize money and valuable ranking points.

What it means for Malaysian badminton

Pearly-Thinaah keep proving they're among the best women's doubles pairs in the world, with back-to-back finals in two weeks (champions in Denmark, runners-up in France). Pang Ron-Pei Jing, a brand-new partnership, have now reached two Super 750 finals in two months.

If they keep this up, the next trophy could be just around the corner. Which pair do you think will win a title first?