Friends to foes
Pearly takes on Ee Wei in battle for doubles honours
It was 21 months ago when Pearly Tan and Toh Ee Wei fought side-by-side and almost emerged as world junior champions.
That was at the 2018 World Junior Championships when they settled for the silver medal in the girls’ doubles.
But on Tuesday at the Badminton Association of Malaysia Invitational Championships, they will find themselves on the opposite sides of the court.
Pearly is now with M. Thinaah while Ee Wei, who rejoined the national team last month, will form an interim partnership with Anna Cheong.
They are part of a five-way battle for the women’s doubles honour that will also involve Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean, Vivian Hoo-Yap Cheng Wen and Teoh Mei Xing-Yap Ling.
Pearly is relishing the prospect of taking on Ee Wei, whom she has enjoyed an illustrious junior career with, as a rival this time.
“I’m looking forward to playing against her. Ee Wei is going to be a formidable opponent.
“Thinaah and I can expect a tough time next week,” said Pearly.
“She is known for her fighting spirit and a strong will to win.
“She is really skilful on the front court, so you got to be careful as she will pounce at every opportunity.
“We know each other’s game very well so I’m sure we’re going to have a great battle.”
Since being paired up in 2016, Pearly-Ee Wei were runners-up at the Asian Junior Championships in Jakarta and bagged the Dutch Junior Open and Malaysian Junior Open titles.
On the domestic front, they emerged winners on three occasions, twice in the Under-18 championships and once in the Under-21 championships.
Ee Wei’s transition to the senior team hit a snag in 2018 when she was bugged by a chronic sinus problem.
After a long layoff, she was offered the chance to rejoin the BAM in May last year but turned it down as she was not ready.
On her target in the Invitational, Pearly is looking at a top-two finish.
“The seniors are not easy to beat, so if we could finish in the top two, then it would be a commendable outing for us,” added Pearly.