Pearly-Thinaah show sports is about competing – and leaning on one another

I LOVE this song “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers. In fact, I like it so much that it has been the ringtone on my handphone for some time now.

It does not just have a catchy beat, but also a lovely chorus that goes: “Lean on me when you’re not strong and I’ll be your friend, I’ll help you to carry on.”

And it was that song that played in my head when Malaysian women’s doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah put up a heroic fight in the second-round match in the All-England.

Thinaah became that friend in the song. She almost carried her partner Pearly on her back into the dressing room after their rollercoaster match.

Pearly had injured her ankle while leading 14-7 against Indonesians Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia in Birmingham but she gritted her teeth through the pain as the pair went on to win the match.

Instead of letting her partner walk after the match, Thinaah decided to let Pearly lean on her. She carried her buddy on her back to limit the strain on Pearly’s left foot.

It was almost amusing, but it was also heartwarming and poignant. The scene, in fact, went viral and took some of the pressure off the struggling Malaysian team in Birmingham.

Malaysia had gone to Birmingham with one of the biggest squads but after the first round, only Pearly-Thinaah, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani (men’s doubles) and Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie were left standing until the quarter-finals.

Thinaah and Pearly showed that in sport, athletes can weather the storm together with a strong relationship.

Obviously, they have built a special bond - and that can take them far in the sport.

The same, though, can’t be said about those in our local football.

There seem to be more estranged relationships than bonds of friendships.

Different leaders are singing different tunes, although all say they want to raise the standard of Malaysian football.

If only all the heads – from the top to the club level can work together – it could be different.

Right now, we can’t get our clubs sorted out and the local football league is in disarray with unpaid wages, poor pitch etc.

That’s not only it. Several associations have strained relationships, with leaders and athletes at loggerheads and crying foul over biased selections with parents being dragged into it too.

When elections are due, associations are split as more time is spent on politicking instead of spending on the growth of the athletes and sport.

There was a lot of commotion before the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) elections last month, and the noise is picking up ahead of the upcoming Malaysia Athletics Federation (MAF) election too.

Thankfully, it has been quiet ahead of the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM)’s elections in April - and that probably could be why the players are finding success.

When the association works well, the sport will too. But you never know, there may be crocodile lurking in the still waters of BAM.

What we need is the right sporting spirit. Many of our athletes, like Pearly-Thinaah, have that spirit.

Remember the 2023 World University Games singles badminton match between the players from China and Uganda in Chengdu, China?

During the match, the Ugandan player’s racquet string snapped and it was his only racquet. His opponent took his own spare racquet and passed it over.

The match resumed and after it was over, the Chinese player told his opponent to keep the racquet.

It was true act of kindness and sportsmanship.

It showed that sportsmen can lean on one another.

We can carry one another’s burden. We can compete but we do not need to have acrimony. That would make the world of sports so much better.