Hong Kong: The stellar performance of Malaysia’s World No. 8 women’s doubles pair, Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan, continued as they secured a spot in the Hong Kong Open final after defeating South Korea’s World No. 2 Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Highlights of Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan vs. Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee in the 2024 Hong Kong Open semi-finals:
Facing Baek and Lee, who were the tournament’s top seeds, the Malaysian pair had to put up a tough fight before clinching a hard-fought three-set victory, 22-20, 17-21, 21-15.
Entering the match at the Hong Kong Coliseum as the third seed, Tan/Muralitharan appeared calm and composed on the court, with their head-to-head record against the Korean pair tied at 2-2 before the match.
In the first set, which lasted 21 minutes, Tan/Muralitharan displayed a remarkable comeback, rallying from a 14-19 deficit to level the score at 20-20 and eventually winning 22-20.
However, their momentum faltered in the second set. Despite an early 5-0 lead, the Malaysian duo lost 17-21.
In the deciding set, Tan/Muralitharan delivered an even stronger performance, not allowing Baek/Lee any room to recover, and won 21-15 in a match that lasted one hour and 13 minutes.
This victory extended their head-to-head record against Baek/Lee to 3-2.
Awaiting Tan/Muralitharan in the final tomorrow will be the second-seeded Chinese duo Liu Sheng Shu/Tan Ning.
The hope of seeing two Malaysian pairs in the Hong Kong Open final was dashed when the journey of Malaysia’s World No. 9 mixed doubles pair, Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei, ended in the semi-finals.
Chen/Toh had to concede to the superiority of the top-seeded Chinese duo, Feng Yan Zhe/Huang Dong Ping.
Feng/Huang demonstrated excellent form to win in straight sets, 21-14, 23-21, and will meet compatriots Jiang Zhen Bang/Wei Ya Xin in the final.
Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen, the men’s singles gold medalist at both the Tokyo and Paris Olympics, advanced to the final by defeating Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 21-9, 21-19 in the men’s singles semi-finals. Axelsen will play Lei Lanxi of China in the final.
Reigning men’s doubles world champions Kang Min Hyuk/Seo Seung Jae will take on Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani of Indonesia in the final. At the same time, Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia will meet Han Yue of China in the women’s singles final.
