KUALA LUMPUR: Women’s doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah’s future in the national team remains up in the air.
National No. 1 Pearly-Thinaah were supposed to have final talks on their contracts with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) after the Thailand Open but their victory in the tournament on Sunday (May 18) has delayed discussions.
They have no time to meet BAM officials for now as they are set to compete in the Malaysian Masters, which starts on Tuesday (May 20) at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil.
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Pearly-Thinaah, who tested the courts on Monday (May 19), did not want to comment on their contract situation and instead said they wanted to focus solely on the home meet first.
“We just want to focus on this tournament. We are not letting anything distract us from playing here,” said Thinaah.
BAM secretary-general Kenny Goh confirmed Pearly-Thinaah have still not signed new contracts.
The world No. 4 pair’s BAM contract ended in December and there have been rumours that they are considering leaving the national body and turning independent.
“We have not met them yet regarding their contracts as they only arrived in Malaysia late Sunday night after winning the Thailand Open,” said Kenny.
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“We will find the right time to meet them. We want to meet them as soon as possible.
“We are happy that they won the title. We want them to focus on the Malaysian Masters first,” he added.
Meanwhile, Pearly-Thinaah are keen to continue their good form in the home event.
“We are really happy with our title win, but it’s already in the past, and we are looking forward to playing on home ground,” said Pearly.
“We have lots of motivation and we want to play our best in every match.”
Pearly-Thinaah will open their campaign against Hong Kong’s Fan Ka Yan-Yau Mau Ying on Wednesday (May 21).
