PETALING JAYA: Women’s doubles coach Rosman Razak is not troubled by Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah’s exit rumours.
Instead, he is focusing on the world No. 5 pair’s performance rather than their contractual matters.
“I didn’t ask them about this because my priority is to focus on their training,” said Rosman after the training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) yesterday.
“As a coach and as part of BAM (Badminton Association of Malaysia), I hope they will stay with us.
“But it’s not my concern at the moment because it hasn’t affected their training.”
Rosman revealed that the pair are undergoing full training this week and getting ready to compete in the Asian Championships from April 8-13 in Ningbo, China.
Rumours are rife that Pearly-Thinaah may become independent players after sources claimed they were in talks with sponsors outside of BAM, but the pair have chosen to stay tight-lipped.
Their silence has only fuelled growing curiosity surrounding their next move.
BAM secretary-general Datuk Kenny Goh said that he preferred not to speculate on the pair’s future but confirmed they were still part of BAM and negotiations regarding their contract were ongoing.
“I am not sure whether they will stay or leave but they are still training with BAM. From what I observe, they are still training hard and their commitment remains strong.
“At the moment, I am very happy to see this, especially as many tournaments are coming up. Their contracts ended in January and we are still in discussion, but it is common for athletes negotiating contract renewals,” he said.
Paired since 2019, Pearly and Thinaah have spent six years together on the court, winning three World Tour titles, which are the 2021 Swiss Open, 2022 French Open and 2024 Hong Kong Open.
Last year, they also made history by becoming the first Malaysian women’s doubles pair to reach an Olympic semi-final at the Paris Olympics.
