Malaysian doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah lost their India Open semi-final to Japan’s Fukushima-Matsumoto, repeating last year’s result.
NATIONAL women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah have been eliminated from the 2026 India Open semi-finals.
The second seeds lost to Japan’s Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex.
The Japanese pair secured a 21-16, 21-13 victory in 46 minutes, preventing the Malaysians from advancing to the final.
Thinaah said Fukushima and Matsumoto’s agility successfully weakened their defence.
“The opponents really put pressure on us through their attacks,” she told BWF.
“This is something we need to pay attention to and be more vigilant about, especially when the opponent plays at a faster tempo.”
She added that they needed to be more sensitive in defence and more aggressive in their gameplay.
The defeat means Pearly and Thinaah have repeated their achievement from last year’s tournament, where they were also stopped in the semi-finals.
The pair will next compete at the Indonesian Masters in Jakarta starting Tuesday.
They face US pair Francesca Corbett and Jennie Gai in the first round at Istora Senayan.
