KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 2 Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah moved a step closer to a historic All England title after powering into the women’s doubles semi-finals on Friday.
Pearly-Thinaah defeated Indonesia’s world No. 21 Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Meilysa Trias Puspitasari 21-9, 21-18 to become the first Malaysian pair to reach this stage of the sport’s oldest tournament since 2007.
That semi-final run remains the best ever achievement by a Malaysian women’s doubles pair at the All England, and Pearly-Thinaah will now aim to go one better when they face South Korea’s Baek Ha Na-Lee So Hee on Saturday.
Revenge was also sweet for the Malaysians, who had lost to Febriana-Meilysa in the second round of the Malaysia Open in January.
The win also extended Pearly-Thinaah’s head-to-head advantage over the Indonesians to 5-1.
Standing in their way of a maiden final appearance are world No. 4 Ha Na-So Hee, with the rivalry between the two pairs perfectly poised at 3-3.
The South Koreans looked in ominous form earlier after cruising past Japan’s Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto 21-18, 21-7 in the other quarter-final.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd