KUALA LUMPUR: The BA of Malaysia (BAM) has confirmed women's doubles shuttler Pearly Tan is not dealing with a serious back injury.
She has already resume court training at Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara, the national body is confident the 23-year-old will be back in action with her partner M. Thinaah at the Super 500 Kumamoto Masters in Japan on Nov 14-19.
After crashing out in the quarter-finals of the Hangzhou Asian Games early October, Pearly complained of a nagging back pain.
As a result, the pair withdrew from the Super 500 Arctic Open in Finland.
The 2022 French Open champions subsequently skipped the Super 750 Denmark and French Opens, which saw the top Malaysian pair drop three rungs to No. 13 in the world.
Earlier, BAM administrative director Michelle Chai disclosed that Pearly had two appointments with the National Sports Institute (NSI) to evaluate the injury and was waiting for the medical report.
"Pearly is back in training. So far so good.
"Pearly-Thinaah are expected to make a comeback at the Kumamoto Masters and the China Masters," said Michelle
By virtue of being Malaysia's top ranked pair, Pearly-Thinaah are expected to qualify for next year's Paris Olympics.
However, the concern remains whether Pearly can keep herself injury free for an extended period and peak at the biggest sporting event in the world.
In June, the Kedah-born suffered an elbow injury at the Singapore Open and was forced to miss the Super 1000 Indonesia Open.
One thing for sure is Pearly has consistently bounced back from such setbacks stronger than before.
Last year, after suffering a left knee injury at the Japan Open in August, Pearly-Thinaah clinched the French Open crown just two months later.