KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 — The country’s leading women’s doubles player Pearly Tan, who injured her elbow while participating in the Singapore Open earlier this month, is expected to return to training next week.

Women’s doubles coach Hoon Thien How said the 23-year-old shuttler’s injury is healing and she should able to resume training with her partner M. Thinaah ahead of the 2023 Korea Open in July.

"I spoke to her recently and she sounded ‘okay’, after being injured that day. The doctor said she will recover in a month.

"But not fully recovered yet, maybe 70-80 per cent, there are certain movements she cannot execute,” he said after the national squad’s training session at the Academy of Badminton Malaysia (ABM) here today.

On June 7, the Pearly-Thinaah pair withdrew in the opening round of the Singapore Open against Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi in the third set, due to Pearly’s injury as the Japanese pair led 16-9.

Pearly-Thinaah lost the first set 13-21 but the 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallists came back to win the second set, 21-17.

The injury also caused the 2022 French Open champions to withdraw from participating in the 2023 Indonesia Open on June 13.

In the meantime, Hoon said he will arrange training which is suitably tailored for Pearly to undergo the best training possible in her condition this Monday.

"As Pearly’s condition has not fully healed, I will arrange for the appropriate training,” he said. — Bernama