Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah play a point during their women's doubles semi-final match against Japan's Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto at the BWF Badminton World Tour Finals at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium in Hangzhou, in eastern China's Zhejiang province on December 20, 2025. -AFP
PETALING JAYA: Women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah saw their hopes of reaching the World Tour Finals final dashed after they fell to Japan’s Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto 19-21, 13-21 on Saturday (Dec 20).
The semi-final defeat marked Pearly-Thinaah’s second straight loss to the Japanese duo in the span of two days, after they crossed paths in their final Group B match on Friday (Dec 19).
Nevertheless, there was still reason for the Malaysians to smile as they are set to return home with prize money of around US$60,000 (RM245,000) following their semi-final finish.
Meanwhile, Men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik were left disappointed after crashing out of the World Tour Finals following their 21-17, 18-21, 15-21 defeat to India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty in their final Group B match on Friday (Dec 19).
The match at the Hangzhou Olympic Centre saw Aaron-Wooi Yik needing a straight games win to reach the semi finals as they were locked in a tight battle with China’s Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang for a place in the knockout stage.
Rankireddy-Shetty, however, had already secured their spot in the next round before the match.
Aaron-Wooi Yik put up a strong fight but unforced errors in the second game allowed the Indian pair to drag the contest into a rubber set, ultimately ending the Malaysians’ hopes.
It was the sixth unsuccessful attempt for Aaron-Wooi Yik to get past the group stage of the World Tour Finals.
Another men’s doubles pair, Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun also bowed out.
They needed a win to reach the semi finals from Group A, but found South Korea’s Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae too strong to overcome as they went down 23-25, 21-14, 19-21.
