Stern test: Pearly Tan (front) and M. Thinaah face world No. 8 Japanese pair Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagara in the opening round of the Asian Championships in Ningbo from April 9-14.
PETALING JAYA: Should they go or should they stay home?
A decision on whether to select women’s doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah to play in the Uber Cup Finals from April 27-May 5 in Chengdu, China, has not been finalised but the former is not overly concerned.
National coaching director Rexy Mainaky is pondering on the option to let the world No. 13 pair skip the Uber Cup Finals and spend more time on their preparations for the Paris Olympics in July.
Either way, Pearly says both skipping or attending the Finals has its benefits and prefers to leave it to the coaches to make the call.
“This is the coach’s decision. To me, there are benefits in both options.
“If we go, getting the tournament feel and competitiveness will be good. If not, we have a longer time to train here,” said Pearly when met at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara yesterday.
“We look at it as a beneficial situation either way.”
Spending more time at home will help them to be more focused on their duties in their first Olympics.
Malaysia are unlikely to make waves in the Uber Cup Finals as most of the team are expected to do better than them.
Meanwhile, Pearly added that their sparring sessions with former Indonesian shuttlers Ade Yusuf and Gerardo Rizqullah Hafidz since last month have been beneficial to their training.
“They are good sparring partners. Their speed is consistent and their power is stronger compared to us so that drives us to improve and match them,” she said.
“Sometimes they push us until we are exhausted, but they know our limits and don’t push us too much past it, otherwise we can’t train effectively.”
Whether or not Pearly-Thinaah heads to Chengdu, they will still be heading to China next month for the Asian Championships from April 9-14 in Ningbo.
Drawn to face world No. 8 Japanese pair Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagara in the opening round, Pearly said the focus was more on their own game compared to their opponents.
“We will analyse with the coaches on how to approach the game and what strategy to utilise.
“But of course, we need to focus on our own game, especially our rotation and communication on the court,” she added.
