One step away: Confident Pearly Tan (left) and M. Thinaah are fancied to win at Japan Masters. - AFP
PETALING JAYA: Women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah have just one hurdle to clear today to win their sixth career title on the BWF Tour, and it comes in the form of another Japanese pair, Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi.
The world No. 2 Malaysians have a psychological edge, having won six of their eight previous meetings.
That includes their most recent meeting in the final of the Arctic Open in Finland last month, where Pearly-Thinaah comfortably defeated the Japanese pair 21-7, 21-9 to claim the title.
But the final at Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium should not be taken lightly, as Iwanaga-Nakanishi shocked world No. 3 Kim Hye-jeong-Kong Hee-yong 21-16, 21-11 in yesterday’s semi-finals.
Pearly-Thinaah themselves had to fight hard to reach the final, narrowly defeating fellow Japanese duo Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto 24-22, 23-21.
It was a sweet revenge for Pearly-Thinaah, who were stunned by the same opponents in the first round of last year’s edition.
“For the final match, as usual, we will try to prepare well on our gameplay and enjoy the match,” said Pearly.
“We are really grateful for all the fans here who support us. There is one more game, so we hope our fans will continue to support us,” added Thinaah in a post-interview.
This year has been a remarkable one for Pearly-Thinaah, as they have already claimed two titles at the Thailand Open and Arctic Open, along with four runner-up finishes at the Indonesian Masters, Indonesian Open, Japan Open, and World Championships.
Meanwhile, the hopes of men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin to qualify for the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou next December were dashed after their campaign in Kumamoto ended at the semi-final stage.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin could not maintain their strong form in the tournament, going down 12-21, 17-21 to home pair Hiroki Midorikawa-Kyohei Yamashita.
The defeat almost certainly hands an advantage to Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, who are on course to qualify for the year-end Finals for the first time this December, alongside Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik.
SEMI-FINALS RESULTS
Men’s singles: Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) bt Wang Tzu-wei (Tpe) 21-11, 21-12; Kenta Nishimoto (Jpn) bt Lakshya Sen (Ind) 21-19, 14-21, 21-12.
Men’s doubles: Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) bt Chiu Hsiangchieh-Wang Chi-lin (Tpe) 21-19, 21-19; Hiroki Midorikawa-Kyohei Yamashita (Jpn) bt Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani (Mas) 21-12, 21-17.
Women’s singles: Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) bt Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) 21-18, 10-21, 21-14; Gregoria Mariska (Ina) bt Chiu Pin-chian (Tpe) 21-16, 21-14.
Women’s doubles: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (Mas) bt Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto (Jpn) 24-22, 23-21; Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) bt Kim Hye-jeong-Kong Hee-yong (Kor) 21-16, 21-11.
Mixed doubles: Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) bt Akira Koga-Misaki Matsumoto (Jpn) 21-19, 21-12; Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (Fra) bt Ye Hong-wei-Nicole Chan (Tpe) 21-17, 21-12
