Badminton: Shida, Matsuyama fall to Malaysian pair at Japan Open
Malaysia's Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan rolled to a 21-13, 21-11 victory over the Paris Olympics bronze medalists, who have decided to part ways after the world championships in the French capital next month.
"In the end, we couldn't play our game at all," Matsuyama said after the doubles pair's last match in front of home fans.
The Malaysian pair turned around a 4-3 deficit by winning eight straight points in the first game in the rematch of the bronze medal contest at the Paris Games.
After that, they never allowed their Japanese opponents back into the contest at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.
No Japanese player was left at the championships after all three of the country's remaining singles players also lost in the semifinals -- Akane Yamaguchi and Riko Gunji in the women's draw and Koki Watanabe on the men's side.
China's Wang Zhiyi defeated Yamaguchi 21-15, 21-18, while South Korea's An Se Young trounced Gunji 21-12, 21-10.
France's Alex Lanier defeated Watanabe 21-19, 21-15.
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