Pearly-Thinaah are Rexy's blueprint for inconsistent Tang Jie-Ee Wei

New Straits Times

2 days ago

KUALA LUMPUR: National coaching director Rexy Mainaky believes Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah's growing maturity as a women's doubles pair holds a valuable lesson for mixed doubles Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei.
World No. 3 Tang Jie-Ee Wei briefly split earlier this year before reuniting at the Singapore Open in June.
Since then, they've made three semi-final appearances — at the Indonesia Open, Japan Open and Macau Open — and reached the quarter-finals of the China Open.
Ahead of the World Championships in Paris (Aug 26-Sept 1), Rexy has urged them to rebuild trust and chemistry — much like world No. 2 Pearly and Thinaah, who never split despite going through a rocky patch of their own.
Pearly-Thinaah's relationship hit choppy waters in late 2023 when the pair were visibly not communicating during a match.
But they ironed out their differences and climbed to a career-best No. 2 ranking, reaching seven World Tour finals in the past 12 months and claiming two titles.
"Pearly-Thinaah also had their problems," said Rexy.
"Before this, Pearly didn't seem to accept Thinaah's unforced errors. But now she's learned to live with them — and look at their consistency today.
"It's about acceptance. Players are human. You can't just press a button and expect perfection.
"If you want to succeed as a pair, you must accept your partner's weaknesses and help them through the tough moments."
Rexy said Tang Jie-Ee Wei still show signs of mental fragility under pressure — particularly when matches don't go their way early on.
"They can play well when things are smooth, but when opponents fight back or it gets tight, you can see panic creeping in," he said.
"This isn't about technique. It's mindset. They need to ask themselves — what are we here for? Are we aligned? Are we ready to fight as a team?"
The Indonesian-born coach, known for his straight-talking style, added that the coaching staff can only do so much with tactics and drills — the rest is up to the players.
"You can't fix this by working on net play or rotation drills," he said.
"The key lies in their thinking."They need to fully accept each other and be in sync — otherwise all their preparation won't mean much."
In Paris, Malaysian shuttlers will be gunning for a second world title following Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik's historic men's doubles victory in Tokyo in 2022.
Malaysia have never won a medal in the women's doubles.
The last time Malaysia reached the mixed doubles podium was in 2006, when Koo Kien Keat-Wong Pei Tty claimed bronze in Madrid.
With Tang Jie-Ee Wei and Pearly-Thinaah spearheading the challenge in those events, Rexy hopes both pairs can turn lessons from past struggles into podium success.