100 Malaysians, 100 Milestones – Our LSA100 Sports Icon of the Year are iconic badminton duo Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan, also fondly known by the nation as ‘PearThin’. Fresh from their victory at the 2025 Japan Masters recently, the pair reflect on their long-term partnership, how they got where they are today, and the hopes and expectations they have for themselves.
When we’re watching them in battle — friendly smiles shed for the camera, their hands gripping their badminton rackets firmly and eyes laser-focused on nothing else but their impending victory — it’s easy to forget that Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan were lifelong friends first before they ever became partners on the court. This year marks the sixth year of the pair’s career in women’s doubles badminton, but Thinaah tells me that the duration is only half the length of their friendship.
“Before we became partners, we were very, very close friends,” Pearly says. “We shared all of our secrets together and everything. But after the partnership, there were some misunderstandings, because it’s different when we’re on the court. On the court, we really have different personalities.” She adds that it used to be her who had been the one to get the ball rolling in their conversations, which is surprising to learn because Thinaah had always seemed the more outspoken. But it’s a balance they have both found in the course of their friendship.
“Since we’re best friends, it’s not easy to not fight while also fighting in court,” Thinaah shares. “So, I’m very grateful to have her understanding in everything, in that sense.”
Pearly and Thinaah — who are currently holding the World No. 2 position in badminton — are all smiles at the shoot, perhaps still reeling from the results of the 2025 Japan Masters, where the pair became the first Malaysians to ever win the Kumamoto Masters badminton tournament. But while the thought of a brief respite is tempting, especially after the long year that they’ve had, this victory has only pushed them both to keep striving for their ultimate goal: consistency.
You’ve both had quite a productive year. What would you say is your biggest takeaway from this year, and what are you most proud of?
Thinaah (T): I think the biggest thing was us being together as partners, in and out. This was really important for our performance, especially this year, because there were lots of ups and downs that we had to go through. But we discussed it, and then we really found solutions to it. Even though some things didn’t work, we kept trying to find new solutions towards it. I think that also helped to have that trust between each other, I think that’s really important. Just the support, the communication, the continuous communication we have with each other that really helps build a bond [that’s] even stronger.
Pearly (P): Proudest moment, I can say the World Championships. Because before the World Championships, our training was not very smooth, me and Thinaah. Especially for Thinaah, I think she always wanted to do things out of her comfort zone and she changed a lot. She improved a lot. I think that’s the proudest thing for me.
In the recent Kumamoto Masters Japan 2025 finals, you both were trailing 0-7 in the opening game and then 5-11 in the mid-game interval. What was going through your heads and what was the turning point that led to the victory eventually, with a scoreline of 22-20, 21-19?
T: I think we didn’t really focus on the scoreline at that time, and we just wanted to find a solution to get to focus on each point that we played, each rally that we played. So, actually we didn’t even realise that we came to a closer gap. We were too focused on getting the point that we were just trying to do well. And the coaches were quite calm and kept supporting us. So, we didn’t feel too stressed or too demotivated, so we just kept going and going. And then things worked out, so we just kept on that strategy towards the end.
P: Actually, during that time, we were a bit lost because suddenly, the score was a bit far away. But Thinaah and I, we really discussed it with each other, and we didn’t want to think about the points. We wanted to take each point at a time, so we just tried to change some of our strategies. And I think when things started to slowly work, everything ended up going smoothly.
What’s an important lesson you’ve learned so far? Is there a particular improvement that you’ve made this year that maybe you were not able to achieve previously?
T: I think the main thing is consistency, especially in building confidence in myself. Daring to do things that I’ve never done. I’m still learning how to improve on that part, because it’s not something you can learn it one day. Things like that needs to be built on routine, and it only improves when you do it every day. But I think it’s been much better than previous years. I’m really still learning, taking it step by step, and I’m really thankful that I have the coaches also supporting me in this.
P: Consistency, definitely. Since the start of this year, both of us have been discussing a lot. We are learning how to be more and more consistent. Because usually, we feel like there’s lots of ups and downs, you know, sometimes we can’t control things, and we cannot change it when it doesn’t go the way we want. I think we’ve learned a lot about that this year. Oh, and definitely patience. This year, I think I’ve learned to be more patient, especially during the critical points. It’s still not so perfect. I’m still learning, but from last year until this year, I can feel that patience is the most important thing that I’m learning and improving on now.
How important for you is mental preparation as compared to physical training or vice versa?
T: I think personally, once you’ve reach this level of play, it’s not really just about the physical but also the mental. The mental part is believing whether you are daring enough, confident enough to play and to take your shot. Sometimes, physical training can bring you up to a certain level, but what happens during the crucial moments depends mostly your mental, like whether you’re daring enough to do something new on the court. Those small, small things play a big role in the crucial moments.
P: Yes, there’s a lot of things you need to prepare when it comes to mental-wise. But with physical training, you just need to have your body be very ready, and be ready to face the tiredness.
For you personally, how do you keep yourself motivated?
T: I think it’s when after each point or each rally, you still feel excited to do something. Each game you play, and each shuttle you want to hit, you have this idea of how you want to make the opponent move. So, when things happen and when you gain confidence, you find that that’s when it connects and clicks with each other, and then the game moves smoothly.
P: For me, it’s… each other. We always support each other in this, and both of us really want to do well. I want to do well for her and she wants to do well for me, and for our family and all the friends who have supported us. That’s what keeps us motivated and keeps us fighting every game.
Who were your sports idols growing up? How did they influence you?
T: It was Marín, Carolina Marín. Because her fighting spirit, her determination on the court, was the thing that really attracted me. Even though she was losing or had injuries, she never gave up and kept coming back. I think that was really inspiring to see.
P: I can say it’s Viktor Axelsen and An Se-young. Because I love seeing their focus. Their mental preparation is very good, because they can be so consistent for not only one month or two months, but for a few years and that’s the thing that I want to learn, so I really admire them so much.
How would you say your relationship/partnership with Pearly has grown since you first began together? What has changed, and what has been a constant?
T: Well, a lot of things. Because, I mean, since before we partnered, we were very close friends, for about 13 or 14 years. And then our partnership started in 2019, so I would say a lot of things lah. I mean, both off and on the court. Because outside of the court, we’ve already known each other since we were both young, right? We know every ‘face’ of each other from the beginning until what’s happening now. We basically know everything. And I feel like we really got to know about each other’s feelings even more, because we share a lot more now. Whether it’s on the court or outside, we don’s keep our feelings within ourselves. Because if we do, then we will have some misunderstandings, right? I think sharing them out, even on a good or bad day, it’s good to at least talk it out. That has really helped us to grow, and to be who we are today.
P: Yeah, exactly, we were very, very close friends. We shared all our secrets together. But after the partnership, of course there have been misunderstandings. Because it’s very different, when you’re on the court and off the court. On the court, we really have different personalities. And then when you want things to be settled but you both have different personalities, sometimes that can cause misunderstanding or make us unhappy with each other, and sometimes there will even be arguments. But after a few years, we realised that it could cost us our friendship, so we really finally tried to talk everything out togetheree. And after the talk, I think we have become even more closer than we used to be. I know her personality not only off the court, but even on the court, I understand Thinaah a lot more. I know what she thinks, what she wants to do, what she likes and doesn’t like. Yeah, it has really made us become closer than we used to.
So, what do you admire most about each other?
P: I think she’s the one with more strength, and more stamina physical-wise. And she’s always there to cover for me lah, in whatever I do on the court. Also, her confidence. She’s very confident. I’m someone who’s very competitive, so when I lose, I would just keep watching the game and try my very best to become even better next time.
T: Her ‘never give up’ fighting spirit. Even when she’s tired or injured or anything like that, I know that I can still do the things I want to do on the court, and that makes me happy. I have to be there for her during these times. Her calmness and her patience also, both on and off the court has really been a big change in her. Yet she still has that fighting spirit in her throughout, you know?
Finally, what are your hopes and expectations for the upcoming year?
T: I think for next year, like I said, we are basically focusing more on consistency. And also reaching new heights, getting better and reaching another level, I think that’s really important. But we also just want to enjoy the process of it, because not everything is going to be smooth.
P: Yeah, I agree. I think it’s the same for me, consistency. I know there will still be ups and downs, but I believe we also have to be consistent in what we do.
editor-in-chief MARTIN TEO | creative direction MARO COLLECTIVE (MODULA LOKO STUDIO) | interview PUTERI YASMIN SURAYA | editorial team RONN TAN & MALLIE MARAN | photography MICHELE YONG | set design BRENDAN TEE | videography POR JIA JUN & STANLEY LOH | hair & makeup BERRY LOW & CHEE ING | styled by BRENDAN TEE & JONATHAN LIANG | jewellery CARTIER | wardrobe DAYJOB, EL BY ELLIE LIM, KIT WOO, SANDRO
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Note : The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.
