Pearly-Thinaah still undecided on BAM contracts as they look ahead to Singapore and Indonesia Opens

KUALA LUMPUR — The cat and mouse game continues between Pearly Tan, M. Thinaah and the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), with the national women’s doubles pair still undecided on whether to sign new contracts with the national body.

While BAM have made it clear they will not amend the contract offer initially extended to the world number 4 duo in January, Pearly and Thinaah have yet to indicate their next move. Their previous contracts expired in December.

Speaking after their 21-16, 15-21, 21-14 defeat to China’s Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian in the Malaysia Masters semi-finals today, Pearly remained tight-lipped.

“We still have another two weeks of tournaments — the Singapore and Indonesia Opens,” said Pearly.

“We don’t have much time, so no comment on that [contract situation].”

BAM had earlier stated the matter would be resolved after last week’s Thailand Open, but it now appears that the shuttle is firmly in the players’ court.

The pair, however, refused to let today’s result dampen their spirits ahead of the upcoming tournaments.

“We feel a bit disappointed, but we don’t want this match to affect us going forward. We’re excited to play back-to-back tournaments. We’ll take it one match at a time,” added Pearly.

Despite the loss, the Thailand Open champions from last week remained grateful for their recent progress.

“I can’t say I’m satisfied — we’re both disappointed today — but to come this far is still something. I have to thank her (Pearly) for being by my side these past two weeks. We’ll rest, discuss with our coaches, and prepare again,” said Thinaah.

The Malaysians put up a stronger fight than in their previous meeting against their China opponents, forcing a decider this time. Pearly acknowledged that their opponents’ strengths were tough to match.

“Yi Fan is very strong at the back, with a lot of variety in her game, and Shu Xian is a very aggressive front-court player. Together, they’re a formidable pair,” she said.

Reflecting on their progress, Pearly added: “It’s still a loss, but one thing that has improved is the confidence we have in each other. We’ll try to keep that momentum for the next two weeks.”

Meanwhile, seventh seeds Yi Fan and Shu Xian will take on their world No. 1 compatriots Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning in the final tomorrow.

Sheng Shu and Tan Ning were also stretched to the deciding game before prevailing 12-21, 21-7, 21-9 against Indonesia’s Apriyani Rahayu and Febi Setianingrum in the earlier semi-final match. – May 24, 2025