BWF World Tour Finals 2025: Pearly/Thinaah Storm into Semifinals

HANGZHOU – The second day of the group stage at the 2025 HSBC BWF World Tour Finals delivered clarity and heartbreak in equal measure at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre. Dominant performances and gritty rubber-game victories saw four top contenders book their tickets to the semifinals with a match to spare, while the campaigns of several rising stars came to an early end.

Women’s Singles: An Se-young and Yamaguchi Advance

In Group A of the women’s singles, the pecking order was established with brutal efficiency.

World No. 1 An Se-young (South Korea) wasted no time in securing her semifinal berth. Following her three-game battle on Day 1, An shifted gears to dismantle Japan’s young prodigy, Tomoka Miyazaki. The Korean ace was in imperious form, controlling the court with surgical precision to win 21-9, 21-6. The loss marked Miyazaki’s second defeat, eliminating her from contention in her debut Finals appearance.

The second ticket from Group A went to Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi, but not before a fierce scare. Facing Indonesia’s Putri Kusuma Wardani, Yamaguchi was pushed to the limit in a marathon encounter. Putri KW, desperate for a win after her opening loss to An Se-young, snatched the first game 24-22 in a tense deuce. However, the experienced Yamaguchi rallied, showcasing her trademark retrieval skills to take the next two games 21-19, 21-13.

The result confirmed the elimination of Putri Kusuma Wardani. Despite pushing two of the world’s best to three games, the Indonesian exits the tournament with two losses, leaving An Se-young and Akane Yamaguchi to play for the top spot in the group tomorrow.

Women’s Doubles: Pearly and Thinaah Shine

Malaysia’s Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan continued their dream run in Hangzhou. Fresh off a win over the third seeds from China on Day 1, the pair showed no signs of slowing down against Japan’s Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi.

Pearly and Thinaah dominated the mid-court exchanges and maintained high attacking pressure to seal a straight-games victory, 21-13, 21-18. The win guarantees their place in the semifinals, a massive milestone for the Malaysian duo. For Iwanaga and Nakanishi, the defeat was their second of the group stage, confirming their exit from the tournament.

Mixed Doubles: Chen/Toh Survive Indonesian Scare

In the mixed doubles sector, Malaysia’s Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei displayed immense mental fortitude to book their semifinal spot.

Facing the young Indonesian pair Jafar Hidayatullah and Felisha Pasaribu, Chen and Toh found themselves on the back foot early, dropping the first game 17-21. However, the Malaysians regrouped, upping the pace and aggression to control the net in the subsequent games. They eventually clinched the match 17-21, 21-14, 21-15.

For Jafar and Felisha, it was a second consecutive defeat after their opening loss to the Chinese pair Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping. While they showed promise by taking a game off the world’s best, their journey to the knockout stage has officially ended.

Summary of Day 2 Qualifiers (2-0 Record)

• WS: An Se-young (KOR)
• WS: Akane Yamaguchi (JPN)
• WD: Pearly Tan / Thinaah Muralitharan (MAS)
• XD: Chen Tang Jie / Toh Ee Wei (MAS)

Eliminated (0-2 Record)

• WS: Tomoka Miyazaki (JPN)
• WS: Putri Kusuma Wardani (INA)
• WD: Rin Iwanaga / Kie Nakanishi (JPN)
• XD: Jafar Hidayatullah / Felisha Pasaribu (INA)