PETALING JAYA: Women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah came close but could not overpower world No. 2 Chinese pair Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning in the Arctic Open final.
The world No. 7 Malaysians fell 12-21, 17-21 to the top seeded Chinese pair at the Energia Arena in Vantaa, Finland.
The first set started as a close fight, but the Chinese shuttlers got away with the lead after the 10-10 mark.
A closer affair in the second set, the lead kept switching hands but it was Shengshu-Tan Ning who eventually managed to hold on to their lead from the 14-14 mark, going on to defend their Arctic Open title.
Reaching the final in Finland was the Malaysians’ third final appearance this year after capturing the Hong Kong Open title and finishing runners-up in the Korean Open last month.
It was Shengshu-Tan Ning’s fourth title of the year after winning the Malaysian Open and Indonesian Masters in January and Japan Open in August.
The win against Pearly-Thinaah also marked their fifth win out of eight previous meetings, also getting their revenge for losing against the Malaysians at the most recent encounter at the Hong Kong Open final.
