Pearly-Thinaah through to semi-finals in Taipei

 However, Malaysia’s teenage women’s doubles pair Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan-Low Zi Yu fell to a Thai pair in a thrilling quarter-final match.

Pearly Tan-M Thinaah are gunning for their second title this year after winning the Indonesia Masters crown in January. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:

World No 5 women’s doubles pair and tournament top seeds Pearly Tan-M Thinaah booked a semi-final berth at the Taipei Open after defeating a home pair.

However, Malaysia’s teenage women’s doubles pair Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan-Low Zi Yu, who were having a brilliant run in the World Tour Super 300 event, fell to a top Thai pair in a thrilling 65-minute quarter-final match.

Pearly-Thinaah showed a much improved performance today to beat the world No 39 home pair Lin Chih Chun-Yang Chu Yun 21-14, 21-17 in 35 minutes.

In the semi-finals tomorrow, they will face either Thailand’s Omnicha Jongsathapornparn-Sabrina Wedler or American pair Francesca Corbett-Jennie Gai.

As for Noraqilah-Zi Yu, it was a real heartbreak as they won the first game against Hathaithip Mijad-Napapakom Tungkasatan and had match point in the second game but their experienced rivals eventually prevailed with a score of 11-21, 22-20, 24-22.

Noraqilah, 19, and Zi Yu, 16, displayed much grit and determination in the rubber game when they levelled the score to 19-19 after trailing 11-19. They even saved two match points before losing. - FMT