Red-hot Pearly-Thinaah One Step Away From Thailand Open Title

BANGKOK, May 17 (Bernama) -- Top Malaysian women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah stormed to a 21-18, 21-12 semi-final win over Japan's Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara in the Thailand Open badminton championships at the Nimibutr Stadium here today.

The world number four Malaysians took just 45 minutes to subdue the Japanese pair and set up a title showdown against South Korea's Jeong Na Eun-Lee Yeon Woo, who had earlier disposed of Taiwan’s Hsu Ya Ching-Sung Yu Hsuan 21-17, 21-19 in the other semi-final.

Thinaah admitted that they got off to a slightly nervy start as their opponents’ game plan caught them off guard.

"After the first-game interval, and some advice from our coaches, we focused on sticking to our own strategy. That helped us regain control of the match," she told Bernama.

Pearly, meanwhile, said that after resolving the initial hiccup, their decision to pressure their opponents proved effective.

"Our rotation and attacking strategy worked well, causing our opponents a lot of trouble. We hope to maintain this momentum in the final against the South Koreans tomorrow," she said.

In January, Pearly-Thinaah came close to winning their first World Tour title before going down 12-21, 21-17, 18-21 to South Korea’s Kim Hye-jeong-Kong Hee-yong in the final of the 2025 Indonesia Masters.

In men’s doubles, the unseeded Danish combination of William Kryger Boe-Christian Faust Kjaer caused a major upset by sending Indonesian top seeds Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto packing 21-13, 21-12 in just 33 minutes.

The world number 75 Danish pair will face reigning Asian men’s doubles champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik in tomorrow’s final after the Malaysians took 38 minutes to overcome home favourites and fifth-seeded Kittinupong Kedren-Dechapol Puavaranukroh of Thailand, 21-17, 21-13 in the other semi-final.

Other semi-final results:

(Notes: Malaysian unless stated and [   ] denotes seedings)

Men's Singles:

[1] Kunlavut Vitidsarn (THA) bt [5] Loh Kean Yew (SGP) 21-10, 21-12

Men’s Doubles:

William Kryger Boe-Christian Faust Kjaer (DEN) bt [1] Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto (INA) 21-13, 21-12

[2] Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik bt Kittinupong Kerden-Dechapol Puavaranukroh (THA) 21-17, 21-13

Women's Singles:

[2] Chen Yu Fei (CHN) bt [3] Tomoka Miyazaki (JPN) 21-11, 23-21

[1] Pornpawee Chochuwong (THA) bt [4] Supanida Katethong (THA) 21-9, 21-18

Women’s Doubles:

Jeong Na Eun-Lee Yeon Woo (KOR) bt Hsu Ya Ching-Sung Yu-Hsuan (TPE) 21-17, 21-19

-- BERNAMA