PETALING JAYA: National women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M Thinaah are just one win away from claiming the Taipei Open title after beating an American pair in the semi-finals today.
The world No 5 pair defeated the 27th ranked American duo Francesca Corbett-Jennie Gai 21-15, 21-17 in a match that lasted 35 minutes at the Taipei Arena, Taiwan.
Pearly-Thinaah will face Japan’s Sumire Nakade-Miyu Takahashi in the final tomorrow.
If they win, the duo will be the first Malaysian pair to capture the women’s doubles title in the Taipei Open since its inception 46 years ago.
This is the third time Pearly-Thinaah have beaten Francesca-Jennie in as many encounters.
Although this tournament is only a World Tour Super 300 event with top pairs absent, winning the title will be a major boost for the Malaysian pair.
They have been struggling to find their old form since Pearly’s injury in May kept her out of tournaments for two months.
This is their fourth semi-final appearance in 10 tournaments this year. However, they only managed to enter one final at the Indonesia Masters in January where they won their only title this season.
Malaysia’s new men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Aaron Tai will play their semi-final match against home pair Chen Cheng Kuan-Liu Kuang Heng later today.
