KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 — National women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah marched into their maiden All England semi-final after defeating Indonesia’s Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Meilysa Trias Puspitasari in the quarter-finals at the Utilita Arena, Birmingham, early this morning.

The world number two pair took just 43 minutes to overcome the Indonesians in straight sets, 21-9, 21-18.

The victory also made Pearly-Thinaah the first Malaysian women’s pair to reach the semi-finals of the prestigious tournament since Wong Pei Tty -Chin Eei Hui in 2007.

The Malaysians will next face South Korea’s Baek Ha Na-Lee So Hee, who earlier cruised past Japan’s Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto 21-18, 21-7 in another quarter-final match. — Bernama