BANGKOK: Women’s doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah booked their spots in the SEA Games final after a hard-fought win over Indonesia’s Rachel Allesya-Febi Setianingrum.
Pearly-Thinaah were pushed hard by Rachel-Febi but showed grit and determination to come away with a 21-14, 19-21, 21-16 win in a 78-minute match at Thammasat University in Pathum Thani on Saturday (Dec 13).
The World Championships silver medallists will next face the winners of the match between Indonesia’s Febriana Dwipuji-Meilysa Trias and Vietnam’s Bui Bich Phuong-Vu Thi Trang for the gold.
It will be Pearly-Thinaah’s eighth final in what has been a fine year for the duo.
The world No. 2 pair captured the Thailand Open, Arctic Open and Japan Masters titles and finished runners-up in the world meet, Japan Open, Indonesian Open and Indonesian Masters.
Pearly-Thinaah will be keen to add the SEA Games gold to their collection and end Malaysia’s ten-year wait for the women’s doubles title.
The 2015 winners, Amelia Alicia Anscelly-Soong Fie Choo, were the last pair to win the crown.
