KUCHING: National women’s doubles pair, Pearly Tan-Muralitharan Thinaah, have broken past the first barrier for a seat at the Indonesia Masters semis, inching closer to securing their first title of the year.
The world number seven pair defeated Malaysia Open champions Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto of Japan in a swift 21-16, 21-15 set win in the quarter-finals at Istora, Senayan, Jakarta today (Jan 24).
This victory marked a repeat of their win over the Japanese duo in the India Open semi-finals last week.
However, their hopes of reaching the final and winning their first title were halted by Kim Hye Jeong-Kong Hee Yong from South Korea.
This marks their second consecutive semi-final appearance after a disappointing start to the season, where they were eliminated in the first round of the Malaysia Open earlier this month.
Pearly-Thinaah will now face South Korea’s Lee Yeon Woo-Lee Yu Lim tomorrow for a place in the finals (Jan 25).
Meanwhile, the national mixed doubles pairs, Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei and Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie, were both eliminated in the quarter-finals. Tang Jie-Ee Wei, top seeds, lost to Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran in a three-set battle, while Soon Huat-Shevon, ranked fourth, were defeated by Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito 15-21, 9-21 set loss.
