Hangzhou — Malaysia’s top women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan have created history by reaching the semi-finals of the BWF World Tour Finals for the first time, after finishing top of Group A in the 2025 edition currently underway in Hangzhou.
Watch Highlights of Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan vs. Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto in the last Group A match of 2025 BWF World Tour Finals:
Their qualification was sealed through two crucial earlier victories, which proved decisive despite a narrow defeat in their final group match against Japan’s Yuki Fukushima/Mayu Matsumoto.
In that encounter at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, the world No. 2 Malaysian pair went down 15-21, 21-16, 19-21 after an intense 81-minute battle.
Advancing to the semi-finals guarantees Pearly and Thinaah a prize purse of RM244,860, while keeping alive their bid for the championship title worth RM1.028 million.
Fresh from winning gold at the 2025 Thailand SEA Games, Pearly-Thinaah opened their campaign in commanding fashion by defeating China’s fourth seeds Jia Yifan/Zhang Shuxian 21-17, 21-11. They followed that up with a composed 21-13, 21-18 win over Japan’s Rin Iwanaga/Kie Nakanishi, a match completed in just 36 minutes.
Their progress marks a major turnaround from last year, where they exited at the group stage after losing all three matches.
Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei Show Grit to Advance
Malaysia’s mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei also confirmed their place in the semi-finals, qualifying as Group B runners-up despite a final-round loss to world No. 1 Chinese pair Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping.
The Malaysians pushed the reigning world champions hard before falling 18-21, 24-26 in 53 minutes, demonstrating resilience and competitive spirit even after already securing qualification.
Their semi-final appearance ensures another RM244,860 in prize money.
Chen Tang Jie said the pair always approach matches with a winning mindset, regardless of qualification scenarios.
“We knew we had already won two group matches, but we never go onto court thinking about calculations. Every match, we want to win,” he said.
Toh Ee Wei added that reaching the semi-finals for the second consecutive year is a major confidence boost.
“We’re happy to qualify again. This gives us extra motivation to perform even better in the next round,” she said.
The BWF World Tour Finals champions will receive RM1.028 million, while runners-up will take home RM489,720.
All Semi-Final Matchups
Men’s Singles – Semi-Finals
-
Christo Popov (France) vs Kodai Naraoka (Japan)
-
Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Thailand) vs Shi Yuqi (China)
Women’s Singles – Semi-Finals
-
An Se-young (South Korea) vs Akane Yamaguchi (Japan)
-
Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand) vs Wang Zhiyi (China)
Men’s Doubles – Semi-Finals
-
Kim Won-ho / Seo Seung-jae (South Korea) vs Sabar Karyaman Gutama / Muhammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani (Indonesia)
-
Liang Weikeng / Wang Chang (China) vs Satwiksairaj Rankireddy / Chirag Shetty (India)
Women’s Doubles – Semi-Finals
-
Pearly Tan / Thinaah Muralitharan (Malaysia) vs Yuki Fukushima / Mayu Matsumoto (Japan)
-
Baek Ha-na / Lee So-hee (South Korea) vs Liu Shengshu / Tan Ning (China)
Mixed Doubles – Semi-Finals
-
Jiang Zhenbang / Wei Yaxin (China) vs Chen Tang Jie / Toh Ee Wei (Malaysia)
-
Hiroki Midorikawa / Natsu Saito (Japan) vs Feng Yanzhe / Huang Dongping (China)
