KUALA LUMPUR: One half of the country’s leading women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan (pix) who has been recovering from a knee injury, is expected to be fully fit for the Sudirman Cup Badminton Championships to be held in Suzhou, China from May 14 to 21.
Pearly Tan and her partner M. Thinaah are the number one women’s pair in the country.
According to Badminton Association of Malaysia’s (BAM) High Performance director Dr Tim Jones, though Pearly was not involved in the simulation exercise for the Sudirman Cup held yesterday, the 23-year-old would be fully recovered and ready for the championships.
“She has a bit of stiff neck since last Friday. She wasn’t quite 100 percent yet so there’s no point risking her to avoid making the situation worse.
“Its more important to get her ready next week. Its not a big concern because we managed everything quite well,” said Tim Jones at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara.
Last September, Pearly and Thinaah’s campaign came to a disappointing end at the 2022 Japan Open when Pearly suffered a knee injury.
Tim Jones said the players in the team that will compete in the Sudirman Cup competition in Suzhou, will have an opportunity to achieve the target set by BAM, which is to reach the semifinals.
“We always have a chance against anyone but we need to get the team spirit right because that’s the thing that will get pull us through,” he said.
In the Sudirman Cup competition, Malaysia are drawn in Group C together with Taiwan, India and Australia and Malaysia must complete the Group C competition in top spot or second spot to advance to the quarterfinals.
Malaysia has never won the Sudirman Cup since its inception in 1989 and the country’s best achievement thus far was making it to the semifinals in 2009 and 2021. -Bernama
