PETALING JAYA: Women's doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah have ended their long losing streak against the challenging pair and home favourites, Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida, to advance to the Japan Open final.
Pearly and Thinaah achieved a commanding 21-13, 21-11 victory over the world No. 2 duo in just 36 minutes, silencing home fans at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Saturday (July 19).
The world No. 3 pair had lost 13 out of their last 14 meetings against Matsuyama and Shida, but they were unfazed by their poor record and played brilliantly from start to finish, securing a morale-boosting win.
The in-form Pearly and Thinaah have now reached their fourth final this year, having captured the Thailand Open and finished as runners-up in the Indonesian Open and Masters.
Standing in their way to their second title of the year will be either China's world No. 1 Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning or world No. 9 Jia Yifan and Zhang Shuxian.
