KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 — Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah powered their way into the China Open semi-finals with a commanding straight-games win over Japan’s Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto today.

According to Free Malaysia Today, the Malaysian pair — ranked world No. 3 — needed just 38 minutes to wrap up the 21-16, 21-12 victory at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium in Changzhou.

It was Pearly-Thinaah’s fourth win in five meetings against the Japanese duo.

Fresh off their runner-up finish at the Japan Open last week, the national women’s doubles team will next face China’s world No. 8 pair Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian in tomorrow’s semi-final.

The Malaysians are eyeing their second title of the year after lifting the Thailand Open crown in May. So far this season, they have made it to four World Tour finals.

The China Open carries a total prize purse of US$2 million (RM8.4 million), with US$148,000 awarded to the winning doubles pair. Losing semi-finalists are guaranteed US$28,000.