PETALING JAYA: Women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah have a nightmare to overcome when they face home pair, Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto, in the semi-finals of the Japan Masters in Kumamoto today.
On paper, Pearly-Thinaah look set to reach their seventh final of the year when they meet Fukushima-Matsumoto based on past results.
Of their five meetings, Pearly-Thinaah have won four, all of them this year.
However, their last defeat to Fukushima-Matsumoto came at this same tournament last year.
At the time, Pearly-Thinaah were seeded fifth in the tournament but fell in the first round to Fukushima-Matsumoto.
Therefore, they are determined not to let a repeat of that disappointing early exit happen, especially as the top seeds in this tournament.
“For tomorrow’s (today) match, we hope to be mentally and physically prepared,” said Thinaah.
“We want to communicate as usual and prepare well for tomorrow’s match,” added Pearly.
In yesterday’s quarter-finals, Pearly-Thinaah had little trouble advancing after defeating Taiwan’s Hsu Yin-hui-Lin Jhih-yun 21-13, 21-17.
Meanwhile, in the men’s doubles, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani battled hard against Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan before edging through 21-16, 10-21, 21-16 to secure a place in the semi-finals.
An all-Malaysia semi-final slipped away as Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi went down 19-21, 14-21 to Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa-Kyohei Yamashita.
Choong Hon Jian-Mohd Haikal Nazri also bowed out after a 16-21, 16-21 defeat to Chiu Hsiang-chieh-Wang Chi-lin.
In the women’s singles, Wong Ling Ching’s promising run ended with a 17-21, 9-21 loss to Thailand star Ratchanok Intanon.
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
(Malaysian only)
Men’s doubles: Chiu Hsiang-chieh-Wang Chi-lin (Tpe) bt Choong Hon Jian-Mohd Haikal Nazri 21-16, 21-16; Hiroki Midorikawa-Kyohei Yamashita (Jpn) bt Wan Arif Junaidi-Yap Roy King (Mas) 21-19, 21-14; Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani (Mas) bt Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan (Tpe) 21-16, 10-21, 21-16.
Women’s singles: Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) bt Wong Ling Ching (Mas) 21-17, 21-9.
Women’s doubles: Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah (Mas) bt Hsu Yin-hui-Lin Jhih-yun (Tpe) 21-13, 21-17.
