PETALING JAYA: National women’s doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M Thinaah advanced to the Arctic Open semi-finals with a comfortable win over a much lower-ranked French pair in straight games.
The world No 2 pair beat the 42nd ranked Margot Lambert-Camille Pognante 21-11, 21-19 in 34 minutes at the Energia Areena in Vantaa, Finland.
Pearly-Thinaah, who were last year’s runners-up, will meet either China’s Bao Li Jing-Zheng Shu Xian or Hsieh Pei Shan-Hung En Tzu from Taiwan.
The Malaysian pair, who were silver medallists at the World Championships in August, hope to win their second title despite entering five finals this year.
The Olympic semi-finalists are strongly tipped to win the crown this year after top seeds and world champions Tan Ning-Liu Sheng Shu withdrew in the second round after Tan suffered a back injury.
The duo lost to Tan-Liu in last year’s Arctic Open final.