KUALA LUMPUR: National number one women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah have withdrawn from the Malaysia Masters 2026 which kicks off tomorrow and continues until May 24 at the Unifi Arena in Bukit Jalil, here.
The latest development was confirmed by the Badminton Association of Malaysia via its Facebook post, stating that the decision was made due to an injury sustained by Pearly.
“The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) confirms that Pearly Tan has withdrawn from the Malaysia Masters 2026 due to a recurring back injury,” it said.
Previously, Pearly had also withdrawn from representing the country in the Uber Cup Finals 2026 in Horsens, Denmark.
Malaysia’s hope on women’s doubles now hinges on up and coming pair and seventh seeds Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting as well as Chong Jie Yu-Vanessa Ng.
Xin Yee-Carmen will open their campaign against Hsieh Yi En-Teng Chun Hsun from Taiwan while Jie Yu-Vanessa will play Chen Yan Fei-Liang Ching Sun, also from Taiwan in the opening round.
The Super 500 tournament offers a total prize purse of USD500,000 (RM1.98 million).
Meanwhile, national women’s doubles head coach Rosman Razak said it was still too early to allow Pearly to return to the court, even though her recovery process is progressing well.
He said that the decision was also reached after discussions with national doubles coaching Director Rexy Mainaky.
“We do not want to take a major risk considering there are still many major tournaments that she will be participating in after this. We understand the sentiment and high expectations to see them play on home soil, but this decision was made to ensure Pearly’s recovery process is at its absolute best,” he said in a separate statement.
Rosman added that the participation status of Pearly-Thinaah at the 2026 Singapore Open from May 26–31, followed by the 2026 Indonesia Open from June 2–7, also remains uncertain.
“Pearly and Thinaah’s participation in the Singapore Open and Indonesia Open will still depend on Pearly’s current condition and fitness level,” he said. – BERNAMA
