KUALA LUMPUR: Women's pair Pearly Tan–M. Thinaah vow to go all the way after reaching their first Denmark Open semi-final.
The Malaysian world No. 5 fought back to beat India's Treesa Jolly–Gayatri Gopichand 14–21, 21–17, 21–11 in Friday's quarter-finals at the SJF Bank Arena.
Their breakthrough ended Malaysia's 18-year wait for a women's doubles semi-finalist at the tournament, following Wong Pei Tty–Chin Eei Hui's title-winning run in 2008.
"We are really happy with today's win and to create this history. We don't want to stop here. We still want to keep moving forward," said Pearly.
"But for now, we have to focus on our own game and our emotions."
Pearly admitted that an overly cautious approach almost proved costly before an on-court discussion helped them turn the match around.
They were a game down and trailing 11–14 in the second when they reminded each other to play freely.
"In the first and second games, we were too defensive and very careful with our shots, but that caused a lot of mistakes," said Pearly.
"We had some communication on court, and that was really important.
"We didn't want to think about winning or losing. We just wanted to enjoy every point, and I think that made a difference."
They will next face China's Bao Lijing–Cao Zihan, who defeated Bulgaria's Gabriela Stoeva–Stefani Stoeva 21–12, 26–24.
Thinaah said rest and preparation would be crucial against the young Chinese combination.
"Every athlete wants to win the championship, but for us, it is about taking each point and each match at a time," she said.
"Keep discussing, keep enjoying the rallies and the game, and the results will show."
Pearly–Thinaah's victory capped a productive day for Malaysia, with three of the country's four quarter-finalists progressing.
In men's doubles, world No. 4 Aaron Chia–Soh Wooi Yik beat Japan's Hiroki Okamura–Kyohei Yamashita 21–16, 21–18.
The win sets up a semi-final against South Korea's world No. 1 Kim Won Ho–Seo Seung Jae.
Mixed doubles pair Hoo Pang Ron–Lai Pei Jing also advanced after overcoming Japan's Akira Koga–Natsu Saito 21–15, 24–22.
They will take on China's world No. 1 Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping in the semis.
Unfortunately, world No. 6 men's doubles pair Goh Sze Fei–Nur Izzuddin Rumsani went down to China's world No. 2 Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang 18-21, 21-18, 21-15.
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