National women’s doubles star Pearly Tan aims for a Super 1000 title this season, starting with a strong run at the Malaysia Open 2026
NATIONAL women’s doubles shuttler Pearly Tan has set her sights on winning a Super 1000 World Tour title this season.
The new campaign begins with the Malaysia Open 2026 at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil from tomorrow until January 11.
Pearly, who partners M. Thinaah, said they must carry forward last year’s momentum to achieve greater success.
The pair rose to world number two and finished as runners-up at the 2025 World Championships in Paris.
The 25-year-old acknowledged the high expectations following an impressive 2025 that included titles at the Thailand Open, Arctic Open and Japan Masters.
“Of course, expectations will be there and we are also the second seeds,” she told reporters after a court-testing session.
“I just hope we can turn those expectations into motivation to perform well at the Malaysia Open 2026.”
She added they hope to maintain consistency and continue improving throughout the 2026 season.
Their best Super 1000 result so far was finishing runners-up at the 2025 Indonesia Open.
They lost that final to China’s Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning 23-25, 12-21, 19-21.
Pearly also hopes to end a run of three consecutive early exits from the Malaysia Open between 2023 and last year.
She said they would not take lightly their opening-round challenge against world number 53 Indian pair Rutaparna Panda-Swetaparna Panda.
