Pearly-Thinaah set up showdown with two-time world champs in Paris

PETALING JAYA: Women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah continued their fine run in the French Open by booking their spot in the final yesterday.

The world No. 11 pair were on fire against South Korea’s recent Denmark Open runners-up Baek Ha-na-Lee-So-hee, triumphing 21-13, 21- 17 in their semi-final in Paris.

Pearly-Thinaah will face off against Japan’s two-time world champions Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara for the title today.

Coach Hoon Thien How said: “Just like for the quarter-final, they prepared very well for this match and this helped them to win. In the final tomorrow, I don’t want them to think too much but just go out there and play their best.

It will be the Birmingham Commonwealth Games gold medallists’ first World Tour final of the year after seeing their run ended in the semi-finals in the Thailand Open (May), Indonesian Masters (June) and Malaysian Masters (July).

Pearly-Thinaah are determined to capture their second World Tour title together after winning the Swiss Open in March last year.

They have never played against world No. 7 Matsumoto-Nagahara before.

The Japanese pair had upstaged compatriots Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota 21-14, 25-23 in the other semi-final tie.

Matsumoto-Nagahara will also be out to win their first title of the year after they were denied in the Thailand Open final by compatriots and world No. 3 Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida.

The title match is all set to be an explosive affair with Pearly-Thinaah ready to go all out to crown their superb run with what will be their biggest title so far.

The Malaysians had started the competition in stunning fashion after prevailing against Indonesia’s top pair Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Ramadhanti with a 22-20, 19-21, 21-7 win.

They had also claimed their first victory over Matsuyama-Shida in their seventh meeting in the quarter-finals.

For an added incentive, winning the title will give Pearly-Thinaah a better chance of making the cut for the season-ending World Tour Finals from Dec 14-18 in Guangzhou.

They are currently 10th in the Race to Guangzhou rankings and only the top eight can qualify.