Malaysia are guaranteed at least one men’s doubles finalist at the PERODUA Malaysia Masters 2026 after three national pairs stormed into the semi-finals at the UNIFI Arena tonight.
The spotlight will now be on a thrilling all-Malaysian semi-final between world No.2 Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik and compatriots Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin Rumsani.
For Aaron/Wooi Yik, it is another shot at the title after finishing runners-up on home soil last year, while Sze Fei/Izzuddin are chasing their second World Tour crown of the season following their triumph at the Indonesia Masters in January.
Aaron/Wooi Yik were firmly in control in their quarter-final clash against China’s He Ke Yuan/Lin Xiang Yi, eventually sealing a comfortable 21-15, 21-15 victory in 34 minutes – their second win over the Chinese pair.
Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin, however, were made to work much harder before booking their place in the last four. After taking the opening game 21-17 against Japan’s Kakeru Kumagai/Hiroki Nishi, the Malaysians lost focus briefly in the second, going down 16-21.
But the pair bounced back in the decider, regaining control with a more composed display to close out the match 21-16 after 53 minutes.
Tomorrow’s semi-final marks the ninth meeting between the two Malaysian pairs, with Aaron/Wooi Yik holding the upper hand with six victories so far.
Malaysia’s hopes of an all-Malaysian final on Sunday remain alive, should Wan Arif Wan Junaidi/Yap Roy King prevail over Denmark’s sixth seeds Daniel Lundgaard/Mads Vestergaard in the other semi-final tomorrow. The Malaysians head into the clash full of confidence, having won all four of their previous meetings against the Danish pair.
There was disappointment, however, in the mixed doubles as world champions Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei failed to live up to expectations, beaten 18-21, 16-21 by China’s new pairing Gao Jia Xuan/Wei Ya Xin in 44 minutes despite a spirited fightback attempt in the second game.
Earlier in the day, Malaysia’s women’s singles hope K. Letshanaa also bowed out in the quarter-finals after her impressive run this week. Fresh from stunning Japan’s third seed Tomoka Miyazaki in the second round, Letshanaa started strongly against another Japanese player, Hina Akechi, by taking the opening game 21-19.
But Akechi raised the pace and intensity in the next two games, capitalising on the Malaysian’s errors to win 19-21, 21-12, 21-10 in 56 minutes.
Meanwhile, China’s rising star Hu Zhe An continued his remarkable run by upsetting Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie 21-14, 13-21, 21-16 to set an all-Chinese semifinals against defending champion Li Shi Feng.
In the women’s singles, China’s Chen Yu Fei and Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon stayed on course for a possible dream final between the top two seeds after both booked their places in tomorrow’s semi-finals.
