KUALA LUMPUR – Top national women’s doubles player Pearly Tan, who was struggling with burnout after being fielded in three tournaments consecutively in the European Tour recently, has returned to training.
Badminton Association of Malaysia high-performance director Dr Tim Jones said the 24-year-old shuttler was also infected with a virus after coming back from the Swiss Open at the end of March, but did not specify what the infection was.
“Pearly suffered a bit of burnout after returning from Europe. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact cause of her burnout, but it could be a combination of results not going her way and being away from her family and so on.
“She also picked up a virus and had to rest a bit. It’s nothing serious and happens sometimes when you come back from overseas,” he told reporters after a training session at Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) here on Tuesday.
However, Pearly was seen back in training earnestly at ABM on Tuesday with her partner M. Thinaah.
In the meantime, Jones also voiced his relief at seeing the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medalist come out to train.
At the 2023 All England Badminton Championship in March, Pearly-Thinaah was eliminated as early as the first round by Japanese pair Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara, 13-21, 21-15, 15-21, and also lost at the Swiss Open in the same round after being beaten by Taiwanese pair Lee Chia Hsin-Teng Chun Hsun 15-21, 21-14, 16-21.
The pair is scheduled to play at the Badminton Asia Championship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from April 25 to 30.
Meanwhile, Jones said BAM will not control the use of social media among players but urged them to be more careful when using the media to ensure their mental well-being. – Bernama, April 6, 2023
