Seoul: Two Malaysian pairs have secured their spots in the final of the 2024 Korea Open, with their primary mission being to claim their first titles of the season.
Malaysia’s World No. 9 women’s doubles pair, Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan, has advanced to the final of the Korea Open by defeating the world’s second-ranked pair from Korea, Baek Ha Na/Lee So Hee, 21-18, 21-13.
Tan/Muralitharan needed just 42 minutes to overcome the tournament’s top seeds, leveling their head-to-head record at 2-2.
The World No. 9 pair is set to face the World No. 20 host pair, Jeong Na Eun/Kim Hye Jeong, in the final on Sunday.
On paper, Sunday’s final marks the fourth encounter between the two pairs, with the head-to-head record favoring Jeong/Kim 2-1. Their last meeting was at the China Masters last year, where the Korean pair triumphed over Tan/Muralitharan 21-11, 15-21, 22-20.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s World No. 9 mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei, also entered the final after defeating China’s Cheng Xing/Zhang Chi 22-20, 21-19 in the semifinal match held at the Mokpo Indoor Stadium.
This victory sets up a final clash against another Chinese pair, Guo Xin Wa/Li Qian, who overcame the third seeds from Korea, Kim Won Ho/Jeong Na Eun, with scores of 14-21, 24-22, 21-10.
This will be the first Super 500 final for Chen/Toh this season. Previously, they reached two Super 300 finals at the Swiss Open in March and the Thailand Masters in February.
Sunday’s final will be the first meeting between Chen/Toh and the world No. 241 Chinese pair Guo/Li.
While Chen/Toh are seen as potential winners of the Super 500 tournament on paper, the ability of the Chinese pair should not be underestimated, especially after they were split up in March.
The last time Guo/Li played together was at the China Masters, a Super 100 event, where they finished as runners-up. Afterward, Guo Xin Wa was paired with Chen Fang Hui, starting at the Thailand Open, where they emerged as champions and later finished as runners-up at the Australian Open in June.