KUALA LUMPUR – After weeks of experimenting with new tactics and styles, national women’s doubles head coach, Rosman Razak, believes Malaysia’s top pair Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah are beginning to reap the rewards of their efforts.
The world No. 4s have enjoyed a strong run of form recently, winning the Thailand Open last month, reaching the semi-finals of the Malaysia Masters, and making their maiden Super 1000 final appearance at the Indonesia Open today.
While they narrowly missed out on the title after losing to China’s world No. 1s Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning in a three-game thriller (23-25, 21-12, 21-19), Rosman is encouraged by the steady progress his charges have made.
“Although their performance hasn’t been consistent every single day, Pearly and Thinaah have shown great desire in trying out different tactics,” said Rosman in a statement to the media.
“Their willingness to adapt has brought positive changes to their game. More importantly, their communication on court has been excellent, especially when under pressure.”
Rosman revealed that over the past four weeks, the coaching team, led by doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky, had implemented new playing styles to improve the duo’s tactical sharpness.
“We’ve been trying out some new strategies and playing patterns, and we’ve seen promising results. There’s still room for refinement, but we’re on the right track.”
He also expressed gratitude to BAM, its support services, and fans who have continued to back the national pair throughout their journey.
Pearly and Thinaah will now head back and resume training at the Akademi Badminton Malaysia. Their next assignment will be the Super 750 Japan Open next month.
More importantly, all eyes will be on them as they need to make a decision soon on whether to remain in the national setup or turn independent. — June 8, 2025