Liu Ying believes review in schedule can help No. 1 pair make Olympics push

PETALING JAYA: Former shuttler Goh Liu Ying believes that a tweak in Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah’s training schedules can aid the pair’s push to qualify for the women’s doubles competition in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Pearly-Thinaah had dropped to No. 13 in the world rankings after they were forced to miss several tournaments this year due to injuries to the former.

The pair’s rankings had also suffered after they could not defend their French Open title last month.

Liu Ying, though, believes that the pair are still on the right track to qualify for the Olympics.

Pearly-Thinaah need to maintain their position in the top 16 until the end of the Olympics qualifying period at the end of April next year to make the cut.

“For now, there’s no need to worry too much about Pearly-Thinaah’s form as there are too many tournaments this year and it’s especially tough for those who are prone to injuries,” said Liu Ying.

Liu Ying should know as she also had to deal with injuries but managed her tournaments well and it resulted in her and partner Chan Peng Soon winning a silver medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

“It’s okay for them to miss a few tournaments as their rankings are still quite stable,” said Liu Ying.

“The most important thing for them is to avoid any serious injuries.

“The coaches can adjust Pearly-Thinaah’s training schedule according to the tournaments,” added Liu Ying, who was present during the Grand Finale of the 3v3 Total Energies x Li Ning Cup in Sunway Velocity Mall yesterday.

Pearly-Thinaah had suffered a quarter-finals exit in the just concluded Japan Masters in Kumamoto after losing to Japan’s world No. 14 Rena Miyaura-Ayaka Sakuramoto.

The pair will next turn their attentions to the China Masters which gets underway in Shenzhen tomorrow.

Pearly-Thinaah have a tricky opening round match against South Korea’s Jeong Na-eun-Kim Hye-jeong.

A win could see them face a quick re-match against Miyaura-Sakuramoto.