PETALING JAYA: Women’s doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah are getting closer to becoming world No. 1 for the first time.
Yesterday, the world No. 2 pair continued their fine form this year by reaching their second consecutive Arctic Open final.
It was their sixth final this year. They won the Thailand Open in May and finished as the runners-up in the Japan Open, Indonesian Open, Indonesian Masters and the World Championshipsthis year.
It was not easy though yesterday as Pearly-Thinaah were pushed hard by Taiwan’s world No. 11 Hung En-tzu-Hsieh Pei-shan but showed great fighting spirit and determination to prevail 22-24, 21-8, 21-17 in 63 minutes in Finland.
The duo also made it into the title match last year before going down to China’s current world No. 1 Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning.
This time, the China pair conceded a walkover in the second round due to injury, enhancing Pearly-Thinaah’s chances of going one better.
The pair will take on Japan’s world No. 6 Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi for the title today.
In the final today, Pearly-Thinaah will start as the favourites after beating Iwanaga-Nakanishi five times in their past seven meetings including in last year’s Arctic Open semi-final.
If they win, Pearly-Thinaah will have an opportunity to close the gap to Shengshu-Tan Ning in the rankings.
The Chinese duo’s grasp on the world No. 1 spot still looks strong as they currently have 111,834 points compared to Pearly-Thinaah’s 89,916.
Shengshu though is struggling with a leg injury and is a doubt for the upcoming Denmark Open and French Open over the next two weeks.
A strong finish in Finland will be a confidence boost for Pearly-Thinaah and set them up for a good run in both Denmark and France.
The duo will be hoping to become only the second Malaysians to reach No. 1 in the world rankings after Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty, who achieved the feat in 2009.
Meanwhile, in the men’s doubles, Aaron Chia-Wooi Yik made it to the semi-finals after defeating Taiwan’s Liu Kuang-heng-Yang Po-han 21-19, 19-21, 21-17 on Friday. They will face Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Kittinupong Kedren of Thailand next.
Another pair Mohd Haikal Nazri-Choong Hon Jian also made it to the last four after stunning Denmark’s world No. 4 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 23-21, 21-15 to set up meeting against England’s world No. 15 Ben Lane-Sean Vendy.
RESULTS
(Malaysians unless stated)
Semi-finals
Women’s singles: Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Anmol Kharb (Ind) 21-10, 21-13.
Women’s doubles: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah bt Hung En-tzu-Hsieh Pei-shan (Tpe) 22-24, 21-8, 21-17; Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) bt Chiharu Shida-Arisa Igarashi (Jpn) 21-14, 12-21, 26-24.
Mixed doubles: Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) 15-21, 21-16, 21-12; Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin (Chn) bt Pakkapon Teeraratsakul-Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha) 16-21, 21-12, 21-12.
Quarter-finals
Men’s singles: Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Koki Watanabe (Jpn) 21-17, 21-19; Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) bt Lu Guangzu (Chn) 15-21, 21-17, 21-18; Rasmus Gemke (Den) bt Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) 21-19, 21-16; Arnaud Merkle (Fra) bt Jason Teh (Sin) 24-22, 21-18.
Men’s doubles: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik bt Liu Kuang-heng-Yang Po-han (Tpe) 21-19, 19-21, 21-17; Mohd Haikal Nazri-Choong Hon Jian bt Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (Den) 23-21, 21-15; Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Kittinupong Kedren (Tha) bt Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang (Chn) 19-21, 21-14, 21-19; Ben Lane-Sean Vendy (Eng) bt Chen Boyang-Liu Yi (Chn) 21-16, 21-12.
