KUALA LUMPUR: Mixed doubles pair Hoo Pang Ron–Lai Pei Jing kept their impressive run going by reaching their second Super 750 final of the season at the French Open on Saturday.
The world No. 31 pair stunned China's world No. 6 Guo Xin Wa–Chen Fang Hui 21–13, 21–9 in just 31 minutes at Arena Grand Paris.
Their latest breakthrough follows a runners-up finish at the China Masters and a semi-final appearance at last week's Denmark Open.
For Pang Ron, their growing consistency has made this European campaign particularly satisfying.
"Of course, I'm really happy. As I said yesterday, this is the first time I have reached back-to-back semi-finals, and now another final. I hope we can do better tomorrow," he said in a post-match interview.
Pang Ron felt the Malaysians made the most of their better conditioning against sixth seeds Xin Wa–Fang Hui.
"I feel our condition was a little better than theirs today. We took advantage of that and kept pushing them, putting them under more pressure," said Pang Ron.
"Maybe they lacked confidence towards the end,"
Pei Jing said establishing their rhythm and reducing errors allowed them to take control.
"We tried to focus on ourselves first, get into our rhythm, keep the momentum and make fewer simple mistakes. Everything went smoothly today," she said.
Their progress has also provided encouragement for their careers as independent players.
"Everything is worth it now. We have been trying very hard to look for sponsors to cover our expenses, so we really thank all our sponsors," said Pei Jing.
"Now we are trying to win more matches, for ourselves and for our sponsors."
Pang Ron–Pei Jing will face either China's world No. 1 Feng Yan Zhe–Huang Dong Ping or France's world No. 4 Thom Gicquel–Delphine Delrue in tomorrow's final.
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