National women’s doubles coach Rosman Razak is ready to meet the ambitious goals set by Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah.
Rosman began his second stint as coach with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) yesterday. The 48-year-old was the one who initially paired Pearly and Thinaah, and now he aims to further improve the performance of the world No. 7 duo.
“They have made their expectations clear with me. They’re not satisfied with where they are and want more,” Rosman said after his first training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara. “This is good because I share the same expectations. We’ve discussed this several times. They aim high and want to achieve even more.”
“My main focus is to prepare them for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics,” he added.
Pearly and Thinaah have set high standards for themselves after making history by becoming the first Malaysian women’s doubles pair to reach the semi-finals at the Paris Olympics in August. However, they missed out on a medal after losing in three games to China’s Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan, the eventual gold medalists. They were also defeated by Japan’s world No. 4 Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida in the bronze medal playoff.
Now, Rosman’s task is not only to guide the duo to a medal at the 2028 Olympics but also to help them win their first medals at the World Championships and Asian Games. The World Championships will return next year, while the Asian Games are set for 2026 in Japan.
Pearly and Thinaah have been in strong form recently. Rosman’s challenge will be to continue pushing them to new heights. The pair won their first title in two years at the Hong Kong Open in September and were runners-up in both the Korean Open and Arctic Open last month.
Rosman expects even tougher competition in 2024. “It will be more challenging for them next year, as some pairs have split and formed new combinations after the Olympics,” he said. “We need to be aware of new pairs, but there’s no need to be scared. They just need to keep working hard and fighting.”
This year, Pearly and Thinaah still have the Japan Masters (Nov 12-17), China Masters (Nov 19-24), and the season-ending World Tour Finals (Dec 11-15) left on their schedule.
When asked if they might skip the Japan Masters to be fresher for the larger events in China, Rosman said, “For now, no. They will play in all three tournaments. Their physical condition looks good. I will observe them over the next two days and finalize the tournament plans. If any changes are necessary, we will announce them.”
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