Pearly–Thinaah Bow Out in World Tour Finals Semi-finals

(Hangzhou, 20th) The BWF World Tour Finals continued today with the semi-finals, where Malaysia’s world No. 2 women’s doubles pair “Pearly–Thinaah” (Pearly Tan / M. Thinaah) faced Japan’s world No. 5 duo Yuki Fukushima / Mayu Matsumoto. The Malaysians were beaten in straight games, exiting the tournament at the semi-final stage.

The pairs had met seven times previously, with Pearly–Thinaah leading the head-to-head 5–2. However, the Malaysians narrowly lost to the Japanese pair in their final group match yesterday (15–21, 21–16, 19–21), setting up another clash in the last four.

In the opening game, Pearly–Thinaah surged to a 5–0 lead before Japan fought back and the score remained tight through multiple ties. At 19–19, Fukushima/Matsumoto took the final two points to seal the first game 21–19.

Pearly–Thinaah started strongly again in the second game, racing to 7–1, but the Japanese pair clawed back, overturned the deficit, and pulled away late. From 15–13, Fukushima/Matsumoto reeled off six straight points to close out the match 21–13, sending Pearly–Thinaah out in the semi-finals.