PETALING JAYA: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (pic) may have made their Denmark Open final victory look comfortable on the scoreboard, but women’s doubles head coach Rosman Razak knows the journey behind their success was anything but easy.
Pearly-Thinaah ended Malaysia’s 18-year wait for the women’s doubles title on Sunday after beating Japan’s Hinata Suzuki-Nao Yamakita 21-18, 21-11 in the final.
It was their first title in 10 months since winning the Indonesian Masters in January.
Rosman had even more reason to celebrate last week as young pair Low Zi Yu-Genevie Lim also achieved a major breakthrough on the world stage.
Zi Yu-Genevie made history by becoming Malaysia’s first girls’ doubles world junior champions after beating Japan’s Nijika Kamata-Shizuku Kashio 15-7, 9-15, 15-12 in Cairo on Saturday (Oct 17).
For Rosman, the two titles were a reward for the hard work put in by the players and everyone supporting them behind the scenes.
“The victory by Pearly-Thinaah was certainly not an easy one. We all know the difficult phases they have gone through in their careers.
“I sincerely hope this victory will give them renewed confidence and help them build greater consistency in future tournaments. We understand that maintaining consistency at the highest level is never easy, but we will continue to support them throughout their journey,” said Rosman when contacted.
Pearly-Thinaah will have little time to celebrate as they return to action at the French Open this week.
The second seeds are scheduled to face Turkiye’s Bengisu Ercetin-Nazlican Inci in the first round.
For Zi Yu-Genevie, Rosman and the coaching team will continue giving them opportunities to test themselves at a higher level.
Despite being only 16, Zi Yu has already gained senior-level experience alongside Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan this year.
She was also selected for the Uber Cup Finals in Horsens in April and the women’s team event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games last month.
Genevie, meanwhile, returned to the national set-up in July and is set to move into the senior ranks as this is her final year at junior level.
“For Zi Yu and Genevie, their progress is a great example of how training alongside full-time senior players and gaining consistent exposure to top-level competitions can contribute significantly to their development.
“We will continue to provide opportunities for other young players to challenge themselves, compete with one another, and earn similar opportunities to progress, just as these two players have done,” added Rosman.
