The world No 8 pair defeated the top South Korean pair in three hard-fought games 22-20, 17-21, 21-15 in the semi-final played at the Hong Kong Coliseum in Kowloon this morning. The match lasted 74 minutes.

At the 2024 Korean Open two weeks ago, the Malaysians beat So Hee-Ha Na in straight games in the semi-final match played in Mokpo, Seoul.

With this win, the Malaysian pair has won three times in their five meetings with the Koreans at international tournaments so far.

In the final tomorrow, they will play Chinese duo Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ningm who defeated South Korean pair Kim So Yeong-Kong Hee Yong in the other semi-final.

Pearly-Thinaah showed sheer determination in the first game when they were down 14-19 at one point before catching up to draw level by taking five points in a row.

The South Koreans took game-point at 20-19 but again the gritty Malaysians won the next three points to take the game 22-20 in 21 minutes.

The Malaysian pair raced ahead 5-0 in the second game but So Hee-Ha Na quickly levelled the score after they forced their opponents into making unforced errors. After some exchanges, the South Koreans took the game 21-17 in 28 minutes.

In the decider, it was a point-for-point battle with Pearly-Thinaah taking the lead 11-10 at the break. They went on to lead 15-11 as they forced their opponents into errors as Pearly continued with her superbly disguised dropshots, catching the Koreans on the wrong foot.

Pearly-Thinaah made a couple of errors at this juncture to allow their opponents to take two more points before racing ahead to win 21-15 in 25 minutes.