KUALA LUMPUR: The hopes of national women’s top doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah to advance into the semi-finals of the All England Open Badminton Championships 2024 went up in smoke when they were stopped by world number 11, Rena Miyaura- Ayako Sakuramoto of Japan today.
In the quarter-final clash at Utilita Arena, Brimingham, Pearly-Thinaah who are ranked 15th in the world opened the game aggressively to beat Rena-Ayako 21-11 in the first set.
However, they could not match the Japanese pair who were the 2023 Switzerland Open champion, and were subdued 18-21 and 18-21 in the following two sets.
This is the second defeat of Pearly-Thinaah to the pair after the 2023 Japan Masters.
Pearly-Thinaah could however be proud in this outing for scalping the world’s number one pair, Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan of China, 22-20 and 21-16 in the second round yesterday after losing in five previous encounters.
Rena-Ayako will next face compatriots, Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida who are seeded sixth in the tournament in the semi-finals tomorrow.
Two more national representatives, men’s singles, Lee Zii Jia and men’s doubles pair, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik will be in action early tomorrow morning. -Bernama
