They said they’d been nervous; they hadn’t slept all night – but on court Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan hid those emotions well enough. What mattered was how efficiently they dealt with the thoughts inside and their opponents outside, giving an air of calm assurance as they slammed the door shut on Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong, 21-12 21-13, to become the first women’s doubles semifinalists from Malaysia at the Olympics.

It took them time for the enormity of their accomplishment to sink in.

“It still feels like I’m dreaming, because from the round robin until now it’s not been easy for us,” said Pearly Tan. “So it feels unbelievable, but there’s one more match to go and we need to stay grounded and stay focused.

“In today’s match it was more about mental (composure), whoever calmer could win the match. I’m glad we have each other for support when one of us is nervous. So I think that was the main thing,” said Tan.

“We just kept thinking of today’s game, but once we entered the court we still felt nervous but thankfully we had each other,” said her partner.

Next up will be Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan, the Olympic silver medallists and four-time world champions, who had beaten them 21-17 22-20 in their group encounter. But that can wait. For now, the Malaysian duo could take pride in the wholly efficient way in which they destroyed the challenge of the world No.10 Koreans.

“For now we don’t want to think much about next match, we just want to recover well – eat well, sleep well, and we will talk to each other and the coaches about strategy and we will be prepared for tomorrow,” said Muralitharan.

“We came in with a dream, so we just wanted to give our 100 per cent in all the matches. Until the shuttle hit the ground we wanted to keep it alive. There are still matches to go.”

Meanwhile, Chen and Jia moved another step closer to their first Olympic gold, taking just 41 minutes to deal with Bulgarian sisters Stefani and Gabriela Stoeva, 21-15 21-8.

China had further reason for cheer as their young compatriots Liu Sheng Shu/Tan Ning, just 20 and 21 years old respectively, knocked out second seeds Lee So Hee/Baek Ha Na. The Chinese world No.3 duo next face fourth seeds Chiharu Shida/Nami Matsuyama, who were just as comfortable in their quarterfinal win over Maiken Fruergaard/Sara Thygesen, 21-7 21-12.

Vitidsarn, Chou Progress

In the top quarter of men’s singles, world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn set up a clash with world No.1 Shi Yu Qi after a hard-fought 16-21 21-14 21-12 result over Kenta Nishimoto.

Japan’s men’s singles hopes were dashed with the other Japanese in the draw, Kodai Naraoka, also falling in the same session, to Chou Tien Chen 21-12 21-16.

“In the first game I was under pressure. I didn’t think too much. It was very difficult to control, there was a lot of wind. It was important to keep the attack, the shuttle is very slow,” said Vitidsarn.

“I need to learn, because this is the biggest tournament. Now (next opponent) Shi is very strong and has very good tactics and performance. I have to try my best.

“Today my attack was good, but I’m not sure about tomorrow, because some players are different, right? I just have to keep trying.”

→ Results