M. Thinaah and Pearly Tan. — FAIHAN GHANI/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah have quickly redeemed themselves by beating reigning Malaysian Open winners to reach the semi-finals of the Indian Open.
Pearly-Thinaah defeated Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto of Japan 21-18, 21-19 in 57 minutes in New Delhi on Friday (Jan 17).
They now have the opportunity to avenge their disappointment from two years ago in India.
They also had reached the semis in the 2023 edition but their dream to reach the final in India was dashed by another Japanese pair Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida.
Their semis spot is a promising achievement, especially after their first round exit at the Malaysian Open last week.
"The conditions are almost the same here, with a few distractions coming from the fans’ seating area, but we just wanted to stay focused on our match and on each other," said Thinaah.
"I think we’re quite happy with today’s match, especially after a disappointing week last week. We just wanted to leave that in the past and come back fresh and renewed this week.
They will face winners of an all-Korean match between Baek Ha-na-Lee Soo Hee and Kim Hye-jeong-Kong Hee-yong.
