Pearly Tan, one of Malaysia’s leading women’s doubles players, will not participate in another major tournament due to a recurring back injury.

The Badminton Association of Malaysia has confirmed that Pearly Tan has withdrawn her name from the upcoming Malaysia Masters 2026. This has disrupted her and her partner, M. Thinaah's campaign in their home competition.

Pearly’s injuries have also prevented her from taking part in many events this year. She was the main player for the host nation, as one-half of the world's No. 2 women’s doubles pair.

Pearly and Thinaah were expected to take the lead of Malaysia’s campaign in the Malaysia Masters as a Super 500 event in Bukit Jalil.

However, the coach of women’s doubles, Rosman Razak, has mentioned that returning to the court this early is too risky.

"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." 

Being one of the biggest stars in the Women's Doubles category, the pair’s absence means that Malaysia will have to rely on younger and less experienced pairings.

Nevertheless, the Malaysian coaching staff is convinced that it was better to focus on recovery rather than return before time. 

Uber Cup absence and growing injury concerns

Pearly missed out on playing in the Uber Cup this year because of the same back injury. That injury became worse during the competitions played recently. Because of the injury, she“had to force her to stop." She knew that she must not do anything to make it even worse.

“Three years ago, this same injury almost took everything away from me. That memory still stays with me, and it’s something I can’t ignore,” said Pearly.

“These past few days haven’t been easy as I couldn’t sleep, and my mind kept going back and forth, hoping there was another option,” she said at the time.

Currently standing at the world No. 2 position, Pearly-Thinaah has established themselves on the BWF World Tour. 

They have won gold medals in the Commonwealth Games, several World Tour titles, and one silver medal in the 2025 World Championship. Also, they were the first Malaysian women's doubles pair to reach the Olympic semifinals in Paris.

The Malaysian coaches now focus on Pearly's condition and decide when she can play next, starting from the Singapore Open.

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Written by

Aadhya Nalla

Edited by

Koushik Biswas