Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah qualified to the World Tour Finals (WTF) semi-finals as group champions despite losing their final group match on Friday.
The newly crowned SEA Games gold medalists went down 15-21, 21-16, 19-21 against Japanese duo Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto, but did enough to secure top spot thanks to their dominance in the opening two matches.
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Tan-Thinaah had comfortably dispatched Chinese pair Jia Yi Fan-Zhang Shu Xian and Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi in their first two Group A matches, and both those straight games victories made the difference between first and second spot in Group A.
The world number two pair will now await their opponents in the semi-finals, which are the runners-up from Group B.
The national women's doubles shuttlers will be hoping to avoid reigning world champions Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning, who will be playing South Koreans Kim Hye-Jeong-Kong Hee-yong in their final group match.
Malaysia will have at least two representatives in the semi-finals as mixed doubles champions Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei have also made it through to the semis.
Chen-Toh went down 18-21, 24-26 against China’s world number one pair Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping in their final group match, but both pairs have already qualified to the semis.
Men’s doubles pairs Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, meanwhile, will see action in the afternoon session.
