PETALING JAYA: The fear of past injury that threatened her badminton career once before has forced Pearly Tan to make the hardest decision - withdraw from the squad gearing up for the Uber Cup Finals.
The 26-year-old Pearly, who is down with a back pain, was apologetic and sad as she announced her decision to skip the Finals in Horsens, Denmark, from April 24-May 3.
In fact, she did not join her partner M. Thinaah and the team, who left early for a centralised training in Herning on Wednesday.
“Three years ago, this same injury almost took everything away from me. That memory still stays with me, and it’s something I can’t ignore,” said Pearly.
“These past few days haven’t been easy as I couldn’t sleep, and my mind kept going back and forth, hoping there was another option.”
In 2024, Pearly suffered the injury during the Asian Games in Hangzhou, where she and Thinaah lost in the quarter-finals to South Korea’s Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee.
They were subsequently forced to withdraw from three European tournaments, the Arctic Open, Denmark Open and French Open, despite initial assessments suggesting the injury was not serious.
As such, and to prevent a recurrence of the same issue, Pearly has made the difficult decision to withdraw in order to focus fully on her recovery.
“Anyone who knows me understands that I would never walk away from the court. I fight until the very last point, every single time. But this time, my body is telling me to stop, and I have to listen.
“I also don’t want my family to keep worrying about me. Right now, I need to take care of myself and give my body the time it needs to heal.
“It hurts not being able to stand beside my teammates and go through this journey together. I’m truly sorry I can’t be there to fight with you all.
“Please know that my heart is always with the team, and I’ll be cheering for every one of you, even from afar,” she added.
Pearly said the old back injury resurfaced during the Asian Championships in Ningbo last week, where their campaign ended in the quarter-finals.
“I recently suffered a back injury during my last tournament, and I’m sorry for injuring myself again. I’m truly disappointed. It breaks my heart to say that I won’t be able to join the Uber Cup this time.
Malaysia’s women’s squad are aiming to end a 16-year drought and reach the quarter-finals after being drawn in Group D alongside six-time champions Japan, Turkiye, and South Africa.
Pearly’s absence has altered the team’s plans, with Thinaah expected to form a new partnership with any of these players - Carmen Ting-Ong Xin Yee and Low Zi Yu-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan, as no replacement will be called up.
