All set: Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah are scheduled to face hosts Kavipriya Selvam-Simran Singh in the first round of the Indian Open. — MUHAMAD SHAHRIL ROSLI/The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 2 women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah will continue with their planned schedule and compete in the Indian Open and Indonesian Masters.
National doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky said there were no changes to Pearly-Thinaah’s programme for now, despite Pearly having only recently recovered from fever.
The fever also affected Pearly’s performance, contributing to her and Thinaah’s shock defeat to Indonesia’s Febriana Kusuma-Meilysa Puspitasari in the second round of the Malaysian Open on Thursday.
The duo were expected to win, having beaten the same pair en route to winning the SEA Games gold in Thailand last month.
However, Rexy said adjustments would be made if necessary.
So far, only Teoh Mei Xing and Go Pei Kee will miss the Indian Open, starting Tuesday, after Pei Kee contracted influenza a day before the Malaysian Open started.
“So far, I haven’t had a discussion with Pearly and Thinaah, but they will continue to play up to the Indonesian Masters, including the Indian Open next week,” said Rexy.
“Moving forward, we will need to be more selective, as playing three consecutive tournaments is a lot.
“This does not mean they will withdraw. In fact, they have already been registered for those tournaments.”
At the Indian Open, Pearly-Thinaah will be seeded second and are scheduled to face hosts Kavipriya Selvam-Simran Singh in the first round.
They will be joined by the young pairing of Carmen Ting-Ong Xin Yee, who will take on Taiwan’s Hsieh Pei-shan-Hung En-tzu.
Previously, Pearly was reported to have felt unwell five days before the Malaysian Open began, initially raising concerns that she might have contracted dengue fever before further tests confirmed otherwise.
“The incident happened five days before the Malaysian Open. She had just returned from Hangzhou and complained of feeling unwell. At first, we were worried it might be dengue, but tests came back negative. However, she still felt weak and developed a fever,” said Rexy.
“I can say this was one of the factors that affected her performance against the Indonesian pair. You could see in yesterday’s match (Thursday) that Pearly-Thinaah had led 4-0 in the second set but then made several unforced errors. I am not making excuses, but this is the reality, and the Indonesian pair also played very well,” added Rexy.
