Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan have ended an 18-year wait for a Malaysian women’s doubles pair to reach the semifinals of the Denmark Open, but the history-makers have no intention of stopping there.
“We’re really happy with today’s win and to create this piece of history,” Tan said after her 14-21 21-17 21-11 win over the Indian pair of Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand Pullela in the Denmark Open quarterfinals.
“But we don’t want to stop here. We want to keep moving forward.”
Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty were the last pair to reach the semifinals of the Denmark Open in 2008.
The milestone was achieved the hard way. After a nervous start, the Malaysians found themselves trailing and struggling to impose themselves on the contest.
Tan admitted the pair had initially been too cautious, allowing errors to creep into their game.
“We were too defensive and too careful with our shots,” she added. “When they were leading 14-11, we had a discussion on court. We told ourselves to enjoy every point and not think too much about winning or losing.”
For Thinaah, the breakthrough reflects a season that has been anything but straightforward.
“It’s been a rollercoaster year with both good and difficult moments,” she said. “Reaching the semifinals is a positive step for us.”
There was little time for celebration, however. The pair intend to review their performance with their coaches before turning their attention to the next round. Awaiting them are Bao Li Jing/Cao Zo Han, an emerging partnership that Thinaah expects will provide another stern test.
“We just need to take it one point at a time, keep communicating, enjoy the rallies and enjoy the game,” she said. This will be the first encounter for the pair.
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Christo Popov (Fra) bt Yudai Okimoto (Jpn) walkover; Alex Lanier (Fra) bt Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) 21-16, 21-12; Anders Antonsen bt (Den) Alwi Farhan (Ina) 21-17, 21-16; Rasmus Gemke (Den) bt Victor Lai (Can) 19-21, 21-16, 21-14
Men’s doubles: Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) bt Kakeru Kumagai-Hiroki Nishi (Jpn) 21-5, 21-17; Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Shohibul Fikri (Ina) bt Peeratchai Sukhpun-Pakkapon Teeraratsakul (Tha) 21-17, 21-16; Aaron Chia-Soh Woo Yik (Mas) bt Hiroki Okamura-Kyohei Yamashita (Jpn) 21-16, 21-18; Liang Wei Kang-Wang Chang (Chn) bt Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin (Mas) 18-21, 21-18, 21-15
Women’s singles: Wang Zhiyi (Chn) bt Putri Kusuma Wardani (Ina) 21-17, 21-16; Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Pornpawee Chochuwong (Tha) 21-14, 22-20; Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) bt Tomoka Miyazaki (Jpn) 17-21, 21-14, 7-4 rtd; An Se-young (Kor) bt Tanvi Sharma (Ind) 21-15, 21-13
Women’s doubles: Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan (Mas) bt Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand Pullela (Ind) 14-21, 21-17, 21-11; Bao Lijing-Cao Zihan (Chn) bt Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva (Bul) 21-12, 26-24; Hinata Suzuki-Nao Yamakita (Jpn) bt Lauren Lam-Allison Quynh Lee (USA) 21-17, 19-21, 21-19; Sayaka Hirota-Ayako Sakuramoto (Jpn) bt Sumire Nakade-Miyu Takahashi (Jpn) 21-14, 21-10
Mixed doubles: Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Ye Hong Wei-Nicole Gonzales Chan (Tpe) 21-15, 21-14; Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi (Chn) bt Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje (Den) 21-18, 21-19; Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing (Mas) bt Akira Koga-Natsu Saito (Jpn) 21-15, 24-22; Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin (Chn) bt Guo Xinwa-Chen Fanghui (Chn) walkover
