Vantaa: Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan secured their spot in the Arctic Open finals with a thrilling 21-19, 19-21, 26-24 victory over Japan’s Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi in the semifinals of the 2024 Arctic Open.
Highlights of Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan vs. Rin Iwanaga/Kie Nakanishi in the 2024 Arctic Open semifinals:
The world No. 7 Malaysian pair fought hard against the World No. 6 Japanese duo in a 102-minute marathon. Despite falling behind at several points, Tan/Muralitharan made a comeback in the first set, winning 21-19. The second set saw Japan pushing back, taking it 21-19. In the decisive third set, Pearly suffered a leg cramp but pushed through, leading to their eventual 26-24 victory.
This is their third final of the year, having previously secured the runner-up position at the Korea Open in early September and winning the Hong Kong Open in mid-September.
Tan/Muralitharan will face the top seeds Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning from China in the final.
In men’s doubles, Malaysia’s Nur Izzuddin/Goh Sze Fei staged a remarkable comeback to defeat world No. 1 Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang from China in the Arctic Open semifinals.
Highlights of Nur Izzuddin/Goh Sze Fei vs. Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang in the 2024 Arctic Open semifinals:
Ranked world No. 8, Izzuddin/Goh initially lost the first set 19-21 but fought back, claiming the second set 21-17 and finally sealing the match 21-18 in the third set. The victory, achieved in 73 minutes, marks their first win in four encounters with the Chinese duo, who were silver medalists at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In the final, the Malaysian pair will face Denmark’s second-seeded Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen.
Izzuddin/Goh are chasing their third season title after winning the China Open and Japan Open.
Meanwhile, mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Lai Jemie were eliminated in the semifinals, falling to China’s Jian Zhen Bang-Wei Ya Xin 14-21, 8-21.