The two reasons behind Pearly-Thinaah's smashing run
KUALA LUMPUR: What are the factors that led to Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah's remarkable run on the World Tour over the last four weeks?
National women's doubles head coach Rosman Razak has offered two reasons: tactical changes and great on court communication.
Pearly-Thinaah won the Thailand Open, reached the Malaysia Masters semi-finals and Singapore Open quarter-finals. And on Sunday, they nearly toppled China's mighty Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning in the Indonesia Open final.
They lost 23-25, 21-12, 21-19 in 87 minutes, but Pearly-Thinaah had the world No. 1 against the ropes, and could have delivered the knockout blow.
The Jakarta result was significant for Pearly-Thinnah as it was their first Super 1000 final, in a World Tour major event. In fact, their world ranking is set to rise a rung, to No. 3 after this, the highest in their careers.
The tactical changes mentioned by Rosman are that Pearly-Thinaah's game has become more aggressive amid a more positive mindset.
"There have been tactical changes in their play, and their excellent communication with each other on court have helped them come out of pressure cooker situations," said Rosman.
"We have been trying new tactics and they have brought positive outcome. But we need to fine tune them."
But off court, Pearly-Thinaah have another issue to deal with — their protracted contract negotiation with the BA of Malaysia (BAM). They may not want to sign a contract extension with the national association but turn professional instead.
Under Rosman, the pair have been showing progress, but to remain under him, they will have to stay with BAM.
Pearly-Thinaah are expected to meet BAM's top management next week for contract talks.
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