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.
