Top form: Pearly Tan (left) and M. Thinaah stormed into the semi-finals after beating Thailand’s Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai 21-11, 21-16. — AFP
PETALING JAYA: It was an unusual scenario as only Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah stood tall on a day when all men shuttlers crashed out in the quarter-finals of the Indonesian Masters.
The country’s top women’s doubles pair Pearly-Thinaah stormed into the semi-finals after a sensational 21-11, 21-16 win against Thailand’s Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai in 44 minutes at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta yesterday.
The stylish win ensured a second successive semi-final spot for the duo this year after reaching the same stage in the Thailand Open last month.
The world No. 10 will take on home pair and Hanoi SEA Games champions Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Ramadhanti for a place in their first final of the year.
The Indonesians stunned South Korea’s world No. 2 Lee So-hee-Shin Seung-chan in another quarter-final match yesterday.
On being the only representative for Malaysia in the semi-finals, Pearly said: “It does not change anything although we are the only ones left. We will give my best to make our country proud.
“The most important thing is to keep our focus, believe in each other and also in our coach,” added the 22-year-old.
For the first time after a long while, Malaysia will not have a representative in the semi-finals of the men’s doubles with the defeats of Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani.
National No. 1 Aaron-Wooi Yik were left to rue their misfortune after the latter suffered food poisoning before their match against Chinese qualifiers Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang.
Aaron-Wooi Yik ended up losing 21-16, 13-21, 17-21, no thanks to the 24-year-old Wooi Yik’s less-than-ideal condition while Sze Fei-Izzuddin could not sustain their good start before losing 21-10, 11-21, 18-21 to world No. 1 pair Marcus Fernaldi-Kevin Sanjaya.
“I don’t want to give excuses but Wooi Yik came down with food poisoning before the match. He told me he wanted to try and play,” said national doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky.
“In the third game, his body was cold and his face was pale. If not for this, I’m sure that he and Aaron would have won the match.”
On Thursday, Chan Peng Soon and Cheah Yee See withdrew from the tournament after the former suffered food poisoning too.
World No. 5 Lee Zii Jia tasted defeat for the first time in almost three months when he lost out to world No. 6 Anthony Ginting of Indonesia 21-18, 16-21, 15-21 in a pulsating encounter.
Anthony will play Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the semi-finals today while the other match-up will be between Loh Kean Yew of Singapore and Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan.
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Anthony Ginting (Ina) bt Lee Zii Jia (Mas) 18-21, 21-16, 21-15; Loh Kean Yew (Sin) bt Lu Guangzu (Chn) 21-15, 21-19; Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) bt Lakshya Sen (Ind) 21-16, 12-21. 21-14; Viktor Axelsen (Den) bt Angus Ng Ka Long (Hkg) 21-13, 21-9.
Men’s doubles: Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang (Chn) bt Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (Mas) 16-21, 21-13, 21-17; Marcus Fernaldi-Kevin Sanjaya (Ina) bt Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani (Mas) 10-21, 21-11, 21-18
Women’s singles: He Bingjiao (Chn) bt Line Kjaersfeldt (Den) 22-20, 21-14; Chen Yufei (Chn) bt Busanan Ongbamrungphan (Tha) 21-11, 21-15; Han Yue (Chn) bt Iris Wang (US) 15-21, 21-18, 21-18.
Women’s doubles: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (Mas) bt Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai (Tha) 21-11, 21-16; Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan (Chn) bt Liu Xuanxian-Xia Yuting (Chn) 21-8, 21-13; Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Ramadhanti (Ina) bt Lee So-heeShin Seung-chan (Kor) 15-21, 21-16, 21-16; Jeong Na-eun-Kim Hye-jeong (Kor) bt Febby Gani-Ribka Sugiarto (Ina) 21-16, 21-18.
Mixed doubles: Seo Seung-jae-Chae Yu-jung (Kor) bt Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping (Chn) 19-21, 21-10, 21-14; Supak Jomkoh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) bt Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas (Ina) 21-13, 21-14; Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong (Chn) bt Ko Sung-hyun-Eom Hye-won (Kor) 21-8, 21-14; Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (Fra) bt Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet 21-15, 21-10.
