PETALING JAYA: A strong finish to the season is on the cards for Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah after their breakthrough showing at the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, China.
Yesterday, the Malaysians reached the semi-finals of the season-ender for the first time after failing to clear the group stage in their previous appearances since 2021.
Pearly-Thinaah defeated Japan’s Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi 21-13, 21-18 in their second Group B match, having earlier upset China’s Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian in their opening encounter on Wednesday.
A win over Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto today will see them emerge as group winners, while the Japanese pair must win to keep their semi-final hopes alive and challenge Jia Yifan–Zhang Shuxian for the second spot.
Said Pearly: “We’re very happy and excited because usually we don’t always win at the World Tour Finals.
“But with these two matches, getting two straight wins means a lot to us and gives us a lot of confidence.”
Pearly-Thinaah made their World Tour Finals debut in 2021, but they bowed out at the group stage after winning just one match to finish third in Group A.
They qualified again the following year but lost all their matches, exiting the group stage once more.
They did not qualify in 2023, but returned last year. However, their campaign ended in disappointment once again as they lost all their matches and were eliminated at the group stage.
Pearly however, does not want to be carried away as the job is far from over.
“As usual, we still want to stay focused because there’s still another group match tomorrow.”
Also through to the semi-finals are mixed doubles world champions Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei.
They recorded their second win in Group B yesterday after beating Indonesia’s Jafar Hidayatullah-Felisha Pasaribu 17-21, 21-14, 21-15. Today’s match against Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping will determine the Group B winners.
“It is always very close against the Indonesian pair. They are competitive, but we trust our partnership and have somehow always managed to overcome them,” said Tang Jie.
“We are not going to relax even though we have won two matches.
Chipped in Ee Wei: “We will go all out, as that is what our coach (Nova Widianto) would want from us.”
l MEN’S SINGLES
Group A: Christo Popov (Fra) bt Kunlavut Vitidsorn (Tha) 21-11, 18-21, 21-10; She Yqi (Chn) bt Li Shifeng (Cn) 21-13, 23-21; Christo Popov (Fra) bt Anders Antonsen (Then) 21-13, 12-21, 21-19.
Group B: Codei Naraka (Gpn) bt Li Shifeng (Cn) 21-16, 21-15; Kody Naraoka (Jpn) bt Thir Teen-chen (Tpe) 21-17, 21-18.
MEN’S DOUBLES:
Group A: Sabbaman-Moh Rez (Ina) The Choth-Toe Wun (Mats) 23-21, 21-19; They are the Chiu-Wang-Wang-Cor-Wang-jae Britain (21-19, 23-25, 21-14: 21-14;
Group B: Satwisserage Rankureddy (Ind) bt Lang Weighg-Wang Chang (Chn) 13-21, 22-20, 21-14; Aaron Chia-Sah Wooi Yik (Mas) bt Fjar Alphean-Shohibul Freak (In) 22-24, 21-18, 21-19.
WOMEN’S SINGLES:
Group A: An Se-young (Kor) bt Tomoka Miyazaki (Jpn) 21-9, 21-6; Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt bt Putri Kusuma Wardani (Ina) 22-24, 21-19, 21-13.
Group B: Zhanger (Chn) btage in Intradinamental Intraan (Th) 21-17, 21-19; H Yue (Come) bw The Fire Collector (Thing) we are swallowed.
WOMEN’S DOUBLES:
Group A: PEARLY TAN-M.THinaah (mas) bt rin yigaga-kie nanishi (JPN) 21-13, 21-18; jia yifan-Zhang Shuxian (CHN) Bt Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto (JPN) 21-19, 16-21, 21-1
Group B: You’re talking about the Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee (Kor) 21-7, 21-10; They are not covered by the 21-7, 16-21, 16-21, 21-1
MIXED DOUBLES:
Group B: Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) b Goh Soon Huat-Shevan Lai Jemie (Mas) 23-25, 21-11, 22-20; Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (Mas) bt bt Jafar Hydiatallah-Felisha Pasarbu (In) 17-21, 21-14, 21-15.
