NEW DELHI – Two Malaysian doubles pairs – Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah – cruised into the 2023 India Open men and women’s semi-finals respectively here today.
Aaron-Wooi Yik beat compatriots Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi 21-17, 21-11 in a 31-minute quarter-final clash at the K.D. Jadhav Indoor Hall.
The pair were thrilled to have checked into the last four.
“We played our game today. We led from the start and I think we performed quite well,” Aaron said.
The world number three pair will face either Malaysia Open champions Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia or Germany’s Mark Lamsfuss-Germarvin Seidel for a place in the final.
Meanwhile, women’s doubles pair Pearly-Thinaah also had no problems downing Japan’s Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi 21-13, 21-13.
Pearly said: “They (the Japanese pair) are good players. It wasn’t easy to score points against them.”
Looking ahead to their semi-final clash, Thinaah said: “We don’t want (to put) any pressure (on ourselves). We just want to play better than today’s match.”
In tomorrow’s semi-finals, the world number eight Malaysians will take on either Thailand’s Benyapa Aimsaard-Nuntakarn Aimsaard or Japan’s Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida. – Bernama, January 20, 2023
