PETALING JAYA: Second seeds Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah are just one step away from reaching their second women’s doubles final at the Arctic Open.
Buoyed by their recent windfall for winning the world championship silver medal in Paris, the Malaysian pair are eyeing a big finish to their campaign in Finland.
On Friday (Oct 10), the world No. 2 duo defeated Margot Lambert-Camille Pognante of France 21-11, 21-19 in 34 minutes – though they made life a little difficult for themselves in the second game.
Pearly-Thinaah, who received RM192,500 in total from the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), Yonex and Affin Bank on Thursday, will next take on the winners of the tie between Bao Lijing-Zhang Shuxian of China and Hsieh Pei-shan-Hung En-tzu of Taiwan next.
If they can raise their game, the Malaysians have a strong chance of making the final again and perhaps going one better this time, after finishing runners-up to China’s Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning last year.
Meanwhile, it was the end of the road for mixed doubles shuttlers Goh Soon Huat–Shevon Lai Jemie in the quarter-finals.
The world No. 8 pair were unable to overcome their long-time rivals Dechapol Puavaranukroh–Supissara Paewsampran of Thailand, going down 12-21, 14-21 in 34 minutes.
It was their third defeat in nine meetings against the Thais.
Their form may have dipped, but their fire still burns as Shevon remains determined to rediscover her touch with Soon Huat and keep their place among the world’s top 10.
"We're still trying to get back on track following our recent dip in form, and putting effort to regain our confidence," said Shevon.
"This Thai pair know us too well and they are a strong pair too. It's a bonus that we are still in the top 10."
Soon Huat-Shevon are still in the running for the World Tour Finals in December, but first, they will get a chance to make a mark in Denmark starting on Tuesday.
Their best is a semi-final appearance and if all go according to form, they have a chance to make it an all-Malaysia affair in the quarter-finals with reigning world champions and world No. 4 Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei.
Both pairs are lumped together in the same quarter, and on paper, they should make the last eight.
Meanwhile, in the men's doubles, former world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Choong Hon Jian-Mohd Haikal Nazri had cleared their second round matches on Thursday to set up meetings against Liu Kuang-heng-Yang Po-han of Taiwan and Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark respectively.
RESULTS
Quarter-finals
Women's singles: Busanan Ongbamrungphan (Tha) bt Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt (Den) 18-21, 21-17, 21-11;
Women's doubles: Arisa Igarashi-Chiharu Shida (Jpn) bt Hsu Ya-ching-Sung Yu-hsuan (Tpe) 21-18, 21-19; Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (Mas) bt Margot Lambert-Camille Pognante (Fra) 21-11, 21-19.
Mixed doubles: Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) bt Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie (Mas) 21-12, 21-14; Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Lu Ming-che-Hung En-tzu (Tpe) 18-21, 21-8, 21-11; Pakkapon Teeraratsakul-Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha) bt Gao Jiaxuan-Wu Mengying (Chn) 21-16, 21-17.
Second round
Men's doubles: Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (Den) bt Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King 13-21, 21-12, 21-19; Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik bt Low Hang Yee-Ng Eng Cheong 15-21, 21-14, 21-14; Choong Hon Jian-Mohd Haikal Nazri bt Eloi Adam-Leo Rossi (Fra) 12-21, 21-10, 21-16.
