KUALA LUMPUR: National women's doubles ace, Pearly Tan, holds no reservations about the possibility of her and partner, M. Thinaah, being excluded from the Uber Cup squad if such a decision is deemed best for them.
National team supremo, Rexy Mainaky indicated earlier this week a likelihood of Malaysia heading to the women's world team championship in Chengdu, China from April 28 to May 5 without Pearly and Thinaah, who are among the most high-profile players in the squad.
Rexy expressed a preference for Pearly and Thinaah to focus on their preparations for the Paris Olympics, reasoning that Malaysia's understrength team are not among the contenders for the Uber Cup.
Pearly remains unfazed by Rexy's statement, saying that she and her partner would accept any decision made by the coaches as it would be beneficial either way.
"For me, whether we're selected to play in the Uber Cup or not, it would be advantageous regardless," said Pearly.
"If we are included, then we have the opportunity to engage in highly competitive matches. If not, it's still beneficial because we will gain extra precious hours for training.
"I see the positives in both scenarios."
For the upcoming Uber Cup finals, Malaysia are drawn in Group B alongside Thailand, Taiwan and Australia.
On paper, aiming for a top-two finish and striving to clear the group stage for the first time since the 2010 edition isn't impossible for Malaysia.
While Thailand appear dominant, Malaysia can vie with Taiwan for the second spot by leveraging the strength of their doubles department, while also hoping for one of the three singles players to secure a surprise point.
However, if Malaysia were to play without Pearly-Thinaah as their first doubles pair, their chances would be highly unlikely.
It's worth noting that Pearly-Thinaah remained unbeaten in the previous edition in Bangkok, despite Malaysia ultimately crashing out in the group stage. They contributed two points in Malaysia's 4-1 defeat to Thailand and 3-2 loss to Denmark.
Meanwhile, Pearly believes that she and her partner have greatly benefited from the sparring sessions with Indonesian men's doubles players, which have been arranged specially for them until the Paris Olympics since early February.
Pearly mentioned that these high-intensity training sessions with their male counterparts have helped them elevate their speed and power.
"Undoubtedly, we're reaping significant benefits from sparring with the men, who excel in terms of speed, power and consistency," explained Pearly.
"Every day, we're pushing ourselves to catch up with them. It's incredibly challenging, but we're giving our best to enhance our power and speed."
"What's advantageous about these sparring partners is their ability to adjust the intensity accordingly and strike a balance. Sometimes they push us until we're breathless, but there are also times when they ease off to keep us going."
If anything, Pearly-Thinaah could potentially reap the rewards from these sparring sessions.
At the recent All England, they achieved a breakthrough victory against China's world No. 1 pair, Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan, marking their first win in six attempts against them.
Pearly-Thinaah are currently preparing for the Asia Championships in Ningbo, China slated for April 9-14.