KUALA LUMPUR: Having recovered from a series of injuries last year and improved her physical condition, women’s doubles shuttler Pearly Tan is now more confident and resilient in facing the new season, beginning with the Malaysia Open 2024 at the Axiata Arena tomorrow.
The 23-year-old, who forms the country’s top women’s doubles combination with M. Thinaah, said a few months of enhanced physical training would prove to be vital in their bid to make a debut in the Paris 2024 Olympics, scheduled from July 26 to Aug 11.
“My body condition now feels much better and confident, but I still need to do more exercise to maintain and improve further. For 2024, I really want to be injury-free and focus on improving my game step by step,” she told reporters after testing the courts ahead of the BWF World Tour Super 1000 tournament here today.
Pearly said clear communication and focus are pivotal in their match tomorrow against China’s rising stars and world number eight Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning, whom they have beaten in their two previous encounters.
At the 2023 Malaysia Open, Pearly-Thinaah were knocked out in the first round by Bulgarian siblings Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva.
Then, injuries and illnesses took their toll on Pearly in 2023, causing the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games champion’s world rankings to drop from fifth place in February to 12th in December.
Meanwhile, Thinaah hopes to continue their good momentum on home ground, where they finished runners-up in the 2023 Malaysia Masters last May.
“I think everything is so far so good for us, and we are happy to play on home ground. Hope to give a good performance and motivate and support each other.
“As for the 2024 season, I think we just want to focus game by game. We don’t want to think too far ahead, just want to focus point by point, game by game,” she said.
Apart from Pearly-Thinaah, other Malaysians in the women’s doubles fray are veterans Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien, who are set to face China’s Li Wen Mei-Liu Xuan Xuan, and Anna Cheong-Teoh Mei Xing, who will face an uphill battle against South Korean world number two Baek Ha Na-Lee So Hee on Wednesday.–Bernama
