Malaysia's badminton pair Tan, Thinaah on changes after Olympics
CGTN
18 Apr 2025, 05:25 GMT+10
World No. 5 badminton women's doubles pair of Malaysia, Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan, sat down with CGTN Sports Scene's Zhu Mandan and talked about changes after the Paris Olympics, and their Chinese rivals.
Tan and Thinaah made the semifinals at the Olympic Games in Paris before being knocked out by Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan of China. It was their second loss to the Chinese pair in Paris after the first time at group stage. Tan and Thinaah finished in the fourth place after losing to Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida of Japan in the bronze medal match.
Despite their failure to stand onto the podium, Tan and Thinaah said they enjoyed the competition even more after the Paris Games.
"I think one of the changes is that we enjoy ourselves more on the court after the Olympics," Tan said. "We shouldered a lot of pressure in Paris and we really did our best there. It's a pity that we lost and didn't get a medal, but I think we enjoyed and cherished the competitions more than ever after that experience."
Tan and Thinaah played against both Chen and Jia, as well as Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning on many occasions, and the Malaysian pair appreciate both very much.
"I think both pairs are very strong players. Although Tan Ning and Liu Shengshu are young players, they have strong hearts, and mature techniques," Tan said. "So when we face them it was always difficult. So I think both pairs are excellent players."
Source: CGTN
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
5 hours ago
- The Star
Golf-Third round of US Open underway at soggy Oakmont
OAKMONT, Pennsylvania (Reuters) -The third round of the U.S. Open got underway at a soggy Oakmont Country Club on Saturday with the early starters trying to close in on halfway leader Sam Burns on a treacherous course that was saturated by overnight rain. Burns, a five-times winner on the PGA Tour seeking his first major title, is three under for the week and will head out in the day's final pairing at 3:35 p.m. ET (1935 GMT) with a one-shot lead over playing partner J.J. Spaun. Viktor Hovland, who is two shots off the pace and the only other player under par, will be in the penultimate pairing with Australian Adam Scott, who is a further shot adrift in a share of fourth place with Ben Griffin. Thriston Lawrence, who was looking at a three-foot par putt on his final hole Friday when lightning forced a stoppage in play with 13 players on the course, completed his second round early on Saturday and is four shots back with Victor Perez. Lurking five shots off the pace in a four-way share of eighth place is LIV Golf's Brooks Koepka, who counts two U.S. Open titles among his five majors. Koepka will head out at 2:51 p.m. ET with Kim Si-woo. All players inside the cut line, which landed at seven over on the week, entered the weekend within 10 strokes of Burns. Pre-tournament favourite Scottie Scheffler, who was visibly frustrated while working on the range after a second-round 71 that left him seven shots off the lead, will set off at 1:02 p.m. ET alongside Cameron Young. "Around this golf course I don't think by any means I'm out of the tournament," Scheffler said on Friday. Former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, who made the cut on the number, went out early and bogeyed the opening hole. (Reporting by Frank Pingue; Editing by Toby Chopra)
The Star
8 hours ago
- The Star
Ramlan urges athletes to say no to Enhanced Games
PETALING JAYA: Former National Sports Council (NSC) director-general and Anti-doping Agency of Malaysia (Adamas) head Datuk Dr Ramlan Aziz has urged all the relevant authorities to strongly denounce the Enhanced Games and take proactive steps to prevent local athletes from getting involved in it. Ramlan said the Games, touted by its organisers as a sporting competition that embraces the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs, was a blatant affront to sporting values, national ethics, and athlete welfare. "When I first heard about the games and how it encourages the use of PEDs, my immediate reaction was one of disbelief," said Dr Ramlan, who led Malaysia's anti-doping movement between 2017 and 2020. "It is completely against the ethos of sports. We created anti-doping guidelines for a reason - to protect the integrity of competition and safeguard the health of athletes. What the Enhanced Games is proposing is cheating, plain and simple. It is immoral." Dr Ramlan said the organisers' notion of pushing the human body to its limits by allowing banned substances not only threatens the credibility of sports but sets a dangerous precedent, especially for young and impressionable athletes. "Their goal is to explore how far the body can go with enhancements but at what cost? It is not just a violation of sporting codes, it's a direct threat to the health of those involved. We must never normalise this." He also pointed out that the Enhanced Games holds no legitimacy in the eyes of the global sporting community. "It's not part of the official sporting calendar, it has no formally recognised athletes or testing protocols. Anybody could take part and that makes it impossible to police. It's not even a clinical or regulated act within any nation's sporting framework." Dr Ramlan, who was instrumental in anti-doping education in Malaysia, recalled how Adamas conducted extensive outreach during the Malaysia Games, educating young athletes on the dangers of doping and the ethical responsibilities of elite sport. "If any of our athletes under national programmes are thinking of participating in such a competition, they're foolish to do so. Years of anti-doping work and preparation will go to waste." He acknowledged, however, that recreational athletes and the general public remain a vulnerable group. "For people outside our structured sporting ecosystem, like gym-goers, it's harder to reach them. But when something like the Enhanced Games comes up, it becomes even more crucial that the message is clear doping is a danger to your health. Stimulants are a no-go. "If we want to fight this, the best solution is to ensure no one competes in it. It must be a joint effort across government bodies, sports organisations and the wider community."
New Straits Times
13 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Raducanu not satisfied with level at Queen's after quarter-final exit
LONDON: Emma Raducanu said she was not too pleased with the level she displayed in her 6-2 6-4 defeat to Zheng Qinwen at the Queen's Club Championships on Friday, but the Briton dismissed any fears of a serious back injury. In an entertaining battle, Raducanu had a few bright moments and secured a double break to go 3-0 up in the second set after taking a medical timeout for a back issue, but she was eventually overpowered by the Chinese world number five. "I've played five matches in a pretty short amount of time. I'm probably feeling that, so I need to let the back rest and see how it goes from there," Raducanu, who also competed in the doubles alongside Katie Boulter, told the BBC after her defeat in London. "I'm not overly concerned that (the back issue) is something serious, but I know it's something that's very annoying and needs proper and careful management. "I've improved a lot and done a lot of good work behind the scenes, but there's a lot to go to get to the next level. They are stronger than me and have had more time training - I need to do the same. I need to raise my level."
