Pearly-Thinaah reach Denmark Open last eight in Odense

Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah reached the Denmark Open women’s doubles quarter-finals in Odense on Thursday, beating Hong Kong’s Yeung Nga Ting and Yeung Pui Lam 21-12, 21-19 in 44 minutes.

The world No. 5 Malaysians, seeded second, are through to the last eight of the Super 750 tournament for the first time since 2024. They will next meet India’s Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela, with a first Denmark Open semi-final at stake.

Familiar opponents await

Thursday’s win extended Pearly-Thinaah’s unbeaten record against the Hong Kong pair to three matches. The Malaysians also beat the world No. 19 Hong Kong pair 21-11, 21-17 in the Asian Games women’s team competition in Japan last month.

Treesa and Gayatri, ranked world No. 18, reached the quarter-finals by upsetting Indonesia’s fifth seeds Rachel Allessya Rose and Febi Setianingrum 21-16, 21-17. Pearly-Thinaah hold a 7-2 head-to-head advantage over the Indian pair.

Their most recent meeting was in last month’s Asian Games women’s doubles quarter-finals, where Pearly-Thinaah won 21-18, 21-9 in 42 minutes. The Malaysians went on to claim bronze at the Games, following their World Championships silver in Paris last year.

Mixed doubles campaign ends

Malaysia’s independent mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie Lai were eliminated by Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Boje, losing 21-7, 21-18 in 32 minutes. The Danish pair are ranked world No. 3 and seeded third.

Goh and Shevon, ranked world No. 10, struggled in the opening game and offered more resistance in the second. Their exit followed a second-round defeat at the Asian Games and a first-round loss at last week’s Arctic Open.

They had previously reached the Denmark Open semi-finals in 2017 and 2022, as well as the quarter-finals in 2018 and last year.

Semi-final place on the line

For Pearly-Thinaah, the quarter-final is an opportunity to improve on a mixed run of recent results. They finished runners-up at the Chinese Taipei Open in July, exited the World Championships in the third round in August and lost in the second round of the China Masters in September.

A win over Treesa and Gayatri would put them in their first Denmark Open semi-final as they seek momentum heading into the closing stretch of the season.