Hong Kong Open: Pearly-Thinaah among four Malaysian representatives in semis

National women’s doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah were first to do so, making it to their fifth World Tour semi-finals after turning the tide in their deciding match.

Tan-Thinaah were long due an extended run in competitions after last making it to the advanced stages in competitions at the Malaysia Masters in May, where they finished as runners-up.

Against Thai pair Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajonglai, they conceded the opening game before recovering to win 15-21, 21-14, 21-19 in a 66-minute battle at the Hong Kong Coliseum.

Crucially, they recovered a three-point deficit in the deciding game to convert five of the last six points.

The victory pits them against another Thai pair Benyapa-Nuntakarn Aimsaard,whom they should be confident of beating to reach the final.

Goh Jin Wei also achieved a big breakthrough this season by reaching her first semi-finals of the year, made even more important after she came from a game down to beat sixth seed Han Yue 12-21, 21-17, 21-18.

She goes on to face another Chinese shuttler Zhang Yi Man in the last four.

After Jin Wei, it was Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai's turn to clock a big win as they beat Indonesians Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas Mentari 21-10, 21-18, setting up a meeting against home pair Tamg Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet.

Ng Tze Yong also stamped his first semi-final appearance of the year after overcoming Denmark's Magnus Johannsen, taking on Jonatan Christie next.

The only Malaysian representatives who failed to make it into the semis were men’s doubles Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin, who lost in straight games against Olympic champions Lee Yang-Wang Chi-lin.