Malaysia has advanced to the badminton semi-finals at the Paris 2024 Olympics in both men’s and women’s doubles. Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah secured their spot by defeating South Korea, while Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik made it through by overcoming their Indian opponents.
Women's Doubles Tough Match Against World No. 1 Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan
World No 12, Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan created history by becoming the first Malaysian women’s doubles pair to enter an Olympics semi-final after a stunning victory over South Korea’s Kim So Yeong-Kong Hee Yong. The Malaysian duo triumphed with an impressive score of 21-12, 21-13 against the World No. 10 pair in 42 minutes straight games.
This win marks a significant achievement for Malaysian badminton, as they now prepare to face the top-seeded Chinese pair, Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan, in the semi-finals. The Malaysians lost to the world No. 1 at 17-21, 20-22 in their opening group stage match. Pearly and Thinaah’s performance in semi-final match will determine whether if they compete for gold or settle for a bronze medal.
Malaysian women’s pairs have only reached the quarter-finals once at the Olympics, which occurred in Rio 2016. During that event, Vivian Hoo and Woon Khe Wei were defeated by the eventual champions, Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi.
Aaron-Wooi Yik in Second Olympic Semi-Finals
National men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik reached their second Olympic semi-finals. They previously won bronze at Tokyo 2020. In the Paris Olympics quarter-finals, they defeated India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. The Malaysians won 13-21, 21-14, 21-16 in 58 minutes at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena.
The former world champions had to dig deep to defeat the world No. 5 Indian pair. The Indians had beaten them in their last three encounters. Previously, the Malaysians had won seven matches in a row.
There is no time to celebrate, however. Later at 4:50 pm, Aaron and Wooi Yik face a significant challenge. They will compete against world No. 1 Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang in the semi-finals. The duo aims for revenge after losing 22-24, 14-21 to the Chinese pair in the group stage on Monday.
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