KUALA LUMPUR: Injury has once again thrown a spanner in the works for women's doubles Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, who might have to skip the Korea Open on July 18-23.
National coach Hoon Thien How on Wednesday said Pearly has a grade-two ligament tear in her right elbow.
Pearly, 23, sustained a right elbow injury at the Super 750 Singapore Open early this month when she was retrieving the shuttle in the first round against Japan's Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi.
Pearly-Thinaah would go on to retire in the deciding game and was then forced to skip the Super 1000 Indonesia Open a week later.
"We got the scan result yesterday, which revealed a grade-two ligament tear."
"The doctor has administered a Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection, so we will wait and monitor her for the next few days.
"We cannot confirm anything until then," Thien How told Timesport.
The latest development does not bode well for the 2022 French Open champions, especially with the Olympic qualifiers in full swing.
Pearly-Thinaah, who already faced a couple of setbacks early this year, are currently ranked No. 12 in the world and have dropped outside the Road to Paris top-16 list.
A country is allowed two pairs if both are ranked in the top eight at the end of the one-year qualifying period in May next year.
Based on the Korea Open draw, Pearly-Thinaah will open against Japan's Rui Hirokami-Yuna Kato in the first round.
Barring any upsets, the Malaysians will face world No. 1 Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan of China in the second round.