Pearly-Thinaah keep their focus despite external pressure
THE ability of national women's doubles team Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah to ward off external pressure and remain focused on training and performance is considered a major achievement, as they show maturity as a pillar of the national badminton squad
Women's doubles head coach Rosman Razak said the intense focus was visible throughout the two consecutive weeks of the tournament campaign from the 2025 Thailand Open to the 2025 Malaysia Masters.
'I think the most important thing is that they can distinguish external problems from training and performance.
'They train hard and want to win, that's what's important and I think their desire to win has never wanned and I think that's enough for a coach,' he told reporters at Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil, yesterday.
Despite losing in the semi-finals of the 2025 Malaysia Masters to the Chinese pair, Jia Yi Fan-Zhang Shu Xian, Rosman was still satisfied with Pearly-Thinaah's performance as they fought until the deciding set before conceding 16-21, 21-15, 14-21 in a 75-minute match.
He believes the Chinese pair have an advantage at the net, which is an aspect that will be focused on in training going forward.
'(The fatigue of playing back-to-back tournaments) is normal as a top level player. Like I said, they have great desire to win,' he said.
According to Rosman, the Pearly-Thinaah contract issue, which reportedly expired at the end of last year but has not yet been finalised with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), has not affected their performance on the court.
'They are training hard and want to win... that is what is important,' he said.
He added that the high commitment shown by the 2025 Thailand Open champions is an important benchmark for the national doubles, with efforts now focused on closing the performance gap between the main pair and other pairs under the national programme.
Pearly-Thinaah are next scheduled to play against the Hong Kong pair, Lui Lok Lok-Tsang Hiu Yan, in the first round of the 2025 Singapore Open, which will take place from May 27 to June 1.
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