Petaling Jaya, October 13, 2024 – The Europe Today: Malaysia celebrated a day of triumph at the Arctic Open as both the women’s and men’s doubles teams made it to the finals in stunning fashion.
The world No. 7 women’s pair, Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah, fought through an intense 102-minute battle to secure a hard-earned 21-19, 19-21, 26-24 victory over Japan’s world No. 6 duo, Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi. Coming back from a daunting 11-16 deficit in the third game, Pearly-Thinaah displayed immense determination and resilience to reach their third final of the year. This follows their recent successes, where they claimed the Hong Kong Open title and finished as runners-up in the Korean Open.
They are now set to face China’s world No. 2 pair, Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning, in a highly anticipated final on Sunday.
In another thrilling encounter, men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin Rumsani stunned China’s world No. 1 team, Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang, with a remarkable 19-21, 21-17, 21-18 win. The world No. 8 Malaysians had never beaten the Chinese pair in their previous three meetings but turned the tide in Vantaa, Finland, to reach their third final this year. Their earlier victories include capturing the Japan and China Open titles.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin will now face either Denmark’s world No. 2 and defending champions, Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, or Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Kittinupong Kedren for the title on Sunday.
This double final appearance marks a significant milestone for Malaysian badminton, with both pairs poised to bring home glory from the Arctic Open.
