PETALING JAYA: Adversity can break some, but it has only made national women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah stronger.
National coach Rosman Razak is proud of the way his charges battled through a difficult few months to win bronze at the Asian Games in Japan and hopes they will carry the same fighting spirit into the tournaments ahead.
The world No. 5 Pearly-Thinaah were Malaysia’s only badminton medallists in Nagoya, with the rest of the national challenge ending by the quarter-finals.
Rosman admitted that the build-up to the Asiad had been far from smooth.
Pearly had been battling injury concerns while Thinaah had to cope with the emotional toll of losing her grandmother and pet shortly before the Games.
“The past few months have been challenging, with many things happening, particularly Pearly’s injury, which was quite serious,” said Rosman.
“Thankfully, her recovery continued to progress positively. However, the tournament results have not been what we had hoped for, especially considering their status and expectations as one of the leading pairs in the world.”
Although Rosman had hoped for more, he believes the Asiad bronze can be the springboard for Pearly-Thinaah to rediscover their best form.
“I hope it will be a stepping stone for them to rebuild their confidence and regain their belief as we move towards the upcoming tournaments.
They will now turn their attention to the European tournaments in France and Denmark.
“At the very least, their hard work, commitment and dedication throughout the training process need to be recognised.
“They have continued to work extremely hard despite the challenges they have faced.”
Rosman said the battle among the world’s leading women’s doubles pairs had also become increasingly tight.
Besides Pearly-Thinaah, the top six comprise world No. 1 Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning of China, South Korea’s Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee (No. 2), Japan’s Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto (No. 3), China’s Jia Yifan-Zhang Shu-xian (No. 4) and Japan’s Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (No. 6).
“We can see that the women’s doubles event has become very open and competitive,” said Rosman.
“Among the top six pairs in the world, anyone can beat anyone on any given day. This shows how competitive the event has become, and there are no guarantees at this level.
“Of course, we will continue to work hard and stay focused on our main objective, which is to prepare ourselves for the Olympic Games. There is still a lot of work to be done, and we will continue to take things step by step.”
Rosman also welcomed the addition of former international Wong Pei Tty to the coaching set-up.
“The addition of coach Pei Tty is also a very positive decision,” said Rosman.
“I believe she will be able to contribute significantly, particularly in helping our younger women’s doubles players. I have worked with her before, so I know her capabilities and the qualities she can bring to the team.
“I’m confident that, together with the other coaches in the women’s doubles department, coach Pei Tty can play an important role in developing our players and strengthening the overall programme as we continue working towards our long-term goals.”
