World No 2 women’s doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M Thinaah failed to defend their Hong Kong Open title after losing to China‘s Jia Yi Fan-Zhang Shu Xian in the semi-finals today.
The Chinese pair, ranked world No 3, needed just 35 minutes to beat the second-seeded Malaysians 21-14, 21-11.
It was the Chinese duo’s fifth victory in six meetings against Pearly-Thinaah.
Despite the defeat, Pearly-Thinaah, who recently won silver at the World Championships in Paris, will take home US$7,000 (RM29,446) in prize money as semi-finalists.
In the final tomorrow, Yi Fan-Shu Xian will meet the winners of the all-Japanese semi-final between Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi and Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara.
Despite the loss, Pearly-Thinaah hold a personal record of having made it to five finals in a year, so far.
They are only second to former world No 1 men’s singles shuttler Lee Chong Wei who made 11 final appearances in 2010, making it the highest in Malaysian badminton history.
Pearly-Thinaah are still in the hunt for a second title this year after winning the Thailand Open championships in May.
