Pearly Tan and M Thinaah are making Malaysians proud with their splendid achievement in the French Open 2022. As they’re the first women doubles from Malaysia to win the French Open since it began in 1908, this achievement is kept safe in Malaysia’s book of history.
Everyone was pleasantly surprised by Malaysia’s unexpected win after they encountered one of the toughest pairs from Japan, Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara. As everyone knows, this Japan duo is a two-time world champion. Yet, Pearly Tan-M Thinaah won the fierce battle by 21-19, 18-21 and 21-15.
As they’re making history in the badminton scene, many might not know them apart from their names. Therefore, let’s get to know these budding badminton players better!
Who is Pearly Tan?
Pearly Tan Koong Le entered the national team in 2013. Previously, she was the girls’ doubles silver medalist at the 2018 Asian and World Junior Championship.
This 22-year-old rising star originates from Kedah. And do you know? She’s actually the daughter of Tan Seng Hoe, also a badminton player! He’s the owner of Alor Setar Racquet Club (ASRC), housing other big names in the Malaysian badminton field like Lee Zii Jia and Jacky Kok. Isn’t that cool? Well, we can safely say that her talent runs in the blood.
She is in the 11th place of the world rank in the women’s double with M Thinaah. That’s another milestone she should be proud of!
Here are her outstanding achievements throughout her journey as a professional badminton player:
She has an Instagram account, @_pearlytan, with more than 200k followers. Furthermore, she accumulated 43k followers on Facebook with 24k page likes. And the numbers are still growing!
If you want to know more about her daily life, updates on the upcoming badminton championship and others, click the follow button on her profile!
Who is M Thinaah?
M Thinaah, or Thinaah Muralitharan, is a Malaysian badminton player aged 24 from Klang, Selangor. She entered the national team in 2013 and has played professionally ever since.
Although she’s an athlete, her parents are working in a different field than her. Thinaah is the second child of S. Muralitharan, an engineer and a medical doctor mother, Dr. Parimala Devi.
She has an older brother and a younger sister. Shockingly, Thinaah’s younger sister, Selinaah Muralitharan, is a former Selangor state shuttler!
Not only is Thinaah good at badminton, but she’s also fluent in four languages: Tamil, Bahasa Melayu, English and Mandarin.
You might wonder, how can she master these four languages? During her studies at the Bukit Jalil Sports School, Thinaah picked up these languages, thus making her fluent in them. That’s very impressive!
Currently, she’s in 11th place on the world ranking for women’s double with her partner, Pearly Tan.
Here are her remarkable accomplishments in her journey as a professional badminton player:
Thinaah enjoys uploading videos of her flexing her ability to speak four languages. And everyone is falling for her charms!
Like Pearly, Thinaah is also an animal lover! You can see many pictures of her with cute dogs and fluffy bunnies. Yes, this pro badminton player loves animals too!
Thinaah’s Instagram has 94.5k followers. Feel free to follow her on Instagram!
These talented women are more than just queens on the badminton court. They have many talents hidden around the racquet they’re holding.
Pearly and Thinaah are one of Malaysia’s pride. They brought the spirit of our country with them in every tournament they entered.
We’re always rooting for their success. Cheers to more gold medals to come!
Sources: Instagram Pearly Tan, Instagram M Thinaah, BWF Badminton Profile: Tan Pearly, BWF Badminton Profile: Thinaah Muralitharan, Facebook Badminton Association of Malaysia – BAM, Youtube BWF TV