<figure id="attachment_3079387" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3079387" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3079387 size-full" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/3a8582f1-pearly-thinaah-bernama-080625-1.webp" alt="pearly thinaah" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3079387" class="wp-caption-text">This is only the second time Pearly Tan-M Thinaah have defeated the Japanese pair Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida in their 15 encounters so far. (Bernama pic)</figcaption></figure>
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s top women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M Thinaah silenced the home crowd by defeating top Japanese pair Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida to enter the finals of the Japan Open today.
The world No 3 Malaysians, who are gunning for a second title this year, showed they were serious contenders for this Super 750 championship by beating the world No 2 Japanese pair convincingly, with a score of 21-13, 21-11, in just 35 minutes.
This is only the second time that Pearly-Thinaah have managed to beat their arch rivals Matsuyama-Shida in their 15 encounters so far.
In the final tomorrow, Pearly-Thinaah will meet the winners of the all-Chinese semi-final match between Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning and Jia Yi Fan-Zhang Shu Xian.
The winners in the doubles events will take home US$70,300 (RM298,775) while the runners-up will receive US$33,250 (RM141,494).
This is the fourth final this year for the pair who won the Thailand Open title in May.
Their splendid performance at the Japan Open comes soon after they inked a new contract with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) that will last until the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
The deal will reportedly see them each receive RM1 million a year.

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