SEOUL: Shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah and Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei made it a smashing Merdeka Day for Malaysia with their magnificent shows in the Korea Open semi-finals today.
Pearly-Thinaah gave the country a double joy just hours after Tang Jie-Ee Wei had marched into the mixed doubles final by beating China's Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi, 22-20, 21-19 at the Mokpo Indoor Stadium in Seoul.
Fourth seeded Pearly-Thinaah followed up on Tang Jie-Ee Wei's feat by stunning South Korea's world No. 2 and top seeds Baek Ha Na-Lee So Hee 21-18, 21-13 in 42 minutes in the women's doubles semi-finals.
Pearly-Thinaah will face South Korea's Jeong Na Eun-Kim Hye Jeong, who beat compatriots Lee Yu Lim-Shin Seung Chan 21-14, 21-11, in the final tomorrow.
World No. 9 Pearly-Thinaah, who faltered in the Japan Open last week, look to be in great form to win their first Super 500 title this season.
This is only their second win over Ha Na-So Hee in four meetings, having lost the last two clashes.
"This win means a lot to us as we lost in the last two meetings against them.
"Today is also Merdeka Day for our country, so hopefully we will have a better gift for Malaysia tomorrow," Pearly told SPOTV in a post-match interview.
"Now we are more prepared and know how to encourage each other when we are down.
"The experience of having gone through everything (in recent years) has turned out to be good for us," added Pearly.
Thinaah said they were well prepared for the semi-final match against the Koreans as from previous experience, Ha Na-So Hee were tough to crack.
"We knew they were not easy to play against, so we made sure we were prepared mentally and physically for them.
"The support we gave each other on the court helped a lot, and we hope we can keep up the momentum for the final tomorrow," added Thinaah.