PETALING JAYA: The partisan crowd at the famed Istora Senayan did their part to dampen the spirits of Malaysian pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, who were outrun by home favourites Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Ramadhanti in the semi-finals of the Indonesian Masters in Jakarta.
Pearly-Thinaah had a positive start but seemed visibly shaken by the vociferous crowd and also the experience of Apriyani, who won the Olympic women’s doubles gold with Greysia Polii, as they suffered a 21-23, 21-14, 21-14 defeat in 74 minutes yesterday.
The Malaysian pair had reached the final of the Thailand Open last month.
National doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky said it was a bitter lesson for the young pair on how to deal with the fans at Istora Senayan.
“The fans were just going crazy and I think they were a little affected by that. They need to be strong in these situations,” said Rexy.
“They played their best. But three unforced errors when the score was at 11-11 in the second game gave the Indonesians the advantage and they pulled away.
“Apriyani’s experience also played a part as she managed to turn it around after losing the first game.”
Meanwhile, Pearly took the defeat on the chin and said they would bounce back from the setback.
“We feel disappointed because we couldn’t make it to the final, but we have to admit that our opponents played really well today (yesterday),” said Pearly.
“What we can do is train harder and play better in the next tournament.”
Meanwhile, Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen ended the gallant run of Indonesian Anthony Ginting with a 21-15, 21-15 win.
Ginting’s’ quarter-final win on Friday had ended Malaysian Lee Zii Jia’s aim of completing a hattrick after the Malaysian’s success in the Asian Championships and the Thailand Open.
Axelsen will play veteran Chou Tien-chen, who defeated world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore 21-16, 8-21, 21-19, in the final today. Men’s singles: Viktor Axelsen (Den) bt Anthony Ginting (Ina) 21-15, 21-15; Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) bt Loh Kean Yew (Sin) 21-16, 8-21, 21-19.
Women’s singles: Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) bt Han Yue (Chn) 13-21, 21-14, 21-18.
Women’s doubles: Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan (Chn) bt Jeong Na-eun-Kim Hye-jeong (Kor) 21-12, 21-13; Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Ramadhanti (Ina) bt Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (Mas) 21-23, 21-14, 21-14.
Mixed doubles: Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong (Chn) bt Seo Seung-jae-Chae Yu-jung (Kor) 19-21, 21-14, 21-12; Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (Fra) bt Supak Jomkoh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) 22-20, 21-12.
SEMI-FINAL RESULTS
