It was sweet revenge for Pearly Tan-M Thinaah who were knocked out by the Japanese duo at last year’s Kumamoto Masters in the first round. (EPA Images pic)
PETALING JAYA: National women’s doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M Thinaah defeated fifth-ranked Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto in straight games to storm into the finals of the Kumamoto Masters in Japan.
Their most memorable moment came in the opening game, however, when they staged a brilliant comeback when the Japanese duo had three game points.
The world No 2 were trailing 17-20 but overcame the deficit to beat Yuki-Mayu 24-22, 23-21 in an energy-sapping semi-final which lasted 57 minutes at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium.
It was also sweet revenge for Pearly-Thinaah who were knocked out by the Japanese duo at last year’s Kumamoto Masters in the first round.
This is a record seventh final appearance for the World Championships runners-up this year. They won two of the six finals so far, at the Thailand and Arctic Opens.
MORE TO COME
