PETALING JAYA: National women's doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah stunned Japan's world No. 3 Chiharu Shida-Nami Matsuyama 15-21, 21-14, 21-14 to reach the semi-finals of the French Open in Paris on Friday (Oct 28).
It was world No. 11 Pearly-Thinaah's first win in seven attempts over Matsuyama-Shida and ensured that Malaysia would have representation in the last-four after all others had fell by the wayside.
The victory was a huge improvement for the Malaysians, who had tamely lost out 16-21, 16-21 to the Japanese duo in their last meeting at the World Championships in Tokyo in August.
Pearly-Thinaah will next face South Korea's Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee for a place in the final.
The Birmingham Commonwealth Games gold medallists will be determined to reach their first World Tour final of the year after seeing their run ended in the last-four in the Thailand Open (May), Indonesian Masters (June) and Malaysian Masters (July).
Meanwhile, it was all over for independent men's doubles pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi, who went down 18-21, 18-21 to Korea's Choi Sol-gyu-Kim Won-ho.
