Pearly stays positive despite Uber Cup doubt
KUALA LUMPUR: Pearly Tan is not discouraged if she and her doubles partner M. Thinaah are not included in the national squad for the 2024 Uber Cup to be held in Chengdu, China from April 27 to May 5.
Pearly prefers to look at it from a positive angle, saying they could instead focus on preparing for the main mission of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris from July 26 to Aug 11.
“It is the coach’s decision whether he wants (us) to go (to Chengdu) or not. Either way is fine. If we don’t go, we have longer training (for the 2024 Olympic Games),” she said at a training session yesterday.
On Tuesday, Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) coaching director Rexy Mainaky did not rule out the possibility that Pearly-Thinaah might be left out of the 2024 Uber Cup squad to help them focus on preparations for the Olympic Games.
However, Rexy said nothing was certain as the coaching lineup first needs to get the opinion of the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) management before announcing the final lineup.
Malaysia, who have never won the Uber Cup and seeded 10th in Chengdu, can expect a tricky path in this edition as they are drawn in Group B with fourth seeds Thailand, sixth seeds Taiwan and Australia.
The 24-year-old Pearly, though, is more concerned with the tough task that awaits her and Thinaah after they were drawn to meet eighth-seeded Mayu MatsumotoWakana Nagahara of Japan in the opening round of the 2024 Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) in Ningbo, China, from April 9 to 14.
Although the Japanese pair are ranked eighth, it is the 13thranked Malaysians who hold the edge in their head-to-head record, having won three of their past four meetings.
Meanwhile, national men’s doubles player Goh Sze Fei admitted to feeling the pressure when he and partner Nur Izzuddin Rumsani are set to open the 2024 BAC campaign against defending world champions and second seeds Kang Min HyukSeo Seung Jae of South Korea.
“We have to handle the pressure... we can’t think too much, we’ll just have to discuss with the coach on what strategy to use and then try our best,” he said.
Former national shuttler Goh Liu Ying meanwhile urged mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei to plan their tournament schedule wisely ahead of the Paris Olympics.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei are currently 8th in the BWF ranking list and are on the right track to feature in their first Olympic Games.
Liu Ying said the duo must be careful to avoid injuries that may risk their participation in Paris.
“Since the closing date to accumulate qualifying points for the Olympics is nearing, I feel it is now time to train and prepare for the Olympics.
“However, there are five more tournaments before the Olympics and they must wisely choose the number of tournaments they wished to participate,” she told Bernama after watching the ‘Swing It, Work It, Shake It’ music video at Emhub, Petaling Jaya yesterday.
Liu Ying, the 2016 Rio Olympics silver medallist, said Tang Jie and Ee Wei must also seek the services of experts to work on their mental strength as their performance has been up and down when participating in major tournaments.
“...they can perform, but maybe at times they are too eager to win and it affected their game,” she added.
Either way is fine. If we don’t go, we have longer training (for the 2024 Olympic Games).
Pearly Tan