Pearly Tan-M Thinaah have become the nation’s first women’s badminton doubles pair to enter the semi-finals of the World Championships after defeating a Bulgarian pair convincingly today.
The world No 2 duo will thus become the first Malaysian women’s pair to win a medal at the prestigious meet as they are assured of at least a bronze medal even if they lose in the semi-final.
They showed that they were also serious contenders for the title when they defeated Gabriela and Stefanie Stoeva 21-15, 21-10 in just 32 minutes in their quarter-final clash at the Adidas Arena in Paris, France.
This was their fourth win in five meetings against their rivals. Their previous best performance in the World Championships was their fourth quarter-final appearance in 2023.
Pearly-Thinaah will take on Japan’s world No 3 pair Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida, who beat South Korea‘s world No. 5 pair Kim Hye Jeong-Kong Hee Yong’s 21-17, 21-14.
The Japanese pair could pose a problem for the Malaysians as they have won 13 of their 15 encounters.
