Pearly-Thinaah march into Denmark Open quarter-finals

KUALA LUMPUR: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah continued their pursuit of a strong finish to the season after advancing to the Denmark Open women's doubles quarter-finals in Odense on Thursday.

The world No. 5 Malaysians, seeded second, overcame Hong Kong's world No. 19 Yeung Nga Ting-Yeung Pui Lam 21-12, 21-19 in 44 minutes to reach the last eight of the Super 750 tournament for the first time since 2024.

The victory extended Pearly-Thinaah's unbeaten record against the Hong Kong pair to three matches, having also beaten them 21-11, 21-17 during the Asian Games women's team competition in Japan last month.

The Malaysians will now face India's world No. 18 Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand Pullela, who earlier produced an upset by eliminating Indonesia's fifth seeds Rachel Allessya Rose-Febi Setianingrum 21-16, 21-17.

It promises to be another familiar encounter for Pearly-Thinaah, who enjoy a commanding 7-2 head-to-head advantage over the Indians.

Their most recent meeting came in the Asian Games women's doubles quarter-finals last month, when the Malaysians prevailed 21-18, 21-9 in just 42 minutes.

Pearly-Thinaah went on to claim bronze at the Asian Games, adding another major medal to their collection following last year's historic World Championships silver in Paris.

However, their recent results have been mixed, with a runner-up finish at the Chinese Taipei Open in July followed by a third-round exit at the World Championships in August and a second-round defeat at the China Masters in September.

A victory over Treesa-Gayatri would take the Malaysians into their first Denmark Open semi-final and strengthen their bid to regain momentum heading into the closing stretch of the season.

Meanwhile, independent mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai saw their campaign end after suffering a 21-7, 21-18 defeat to Denmark's world No. 3 and third seeds Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje in just 32 minutes.

The world No. 10 Malaysians struggled badly in the opening game before putting up greater resistance in the second but were unable to prevent the home favourites from progressing.

The result was particularly disappointing for Soon Huat-Shevon, who have enjoyed considerable success at the Denmark Open, reaching the semi-finals in 2017 and 2022, as well as the quarter-finals in 2018 and last year.

It also marked their third consecutive early exit following a second-round defeat at the Asian Games and a first-round loss at last week's Arctic Open.