KUALA LUMPUR: Olympic silver medallist Goh Liu Ying has urged women's pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah to listen to their body as mental and physical exhaustion can lead to injuries.
Liu Ying, who understands the demands of top class badminton, said Pearly-Thinaah should skip a tournament or two to rest and recover from their recent gruelling matches in Europe.
World No. 7 Pearly-Thinaah, who finished second at the Arctic Open in Finland last week, said exhaustion led to their 22-20, 21-19 loss to Japan's World No. 6 Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi in the Denmark Open quarter-finals in Odense on Friday.
Though battle worn, the Malaysian duo are eyeing a spot in the lucrative season-ending World Tour Finals (WTF) in Hangzhou on Dec 11-15.
"If Pearly-Thinaah have done enough to qualify for the WTF, they should skip a tournament or two to get sufficient rest and avoid injuries," said Liu Ying, who won the mixed doubles silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics with Chan Peng Soon.
"They must know their body well. The semi-final and final stages of the Super 500 to 1000 events are extremely tough and there isn't much time for them to recover physically and mentally.
"As a top 10 pair, I think they must play in the Super 750 or Super 1000, but they can still skip other events as they are quite certain to qualify for the WTF."
Liu Ying, herself, was also involved in a hectic schedule during her career, resulting in surgeries on both her knees.
Pearly didn't look good physically when she played against Iwanaga-Nakanishi with both her knees and right shoulders strapped.
Pearly, 24, who had knee surgery in 2022, later suffered elbow and back injuries. She can't afford any more injuries as they could wreck her 2028 Olympics dream.
Based on BWF regulations, it is compulsory for the top 10 pairs to play in the Super 750 (six) and 1000 (four) events and two of the nine Super 500 events.
This means Pearly-Thinaah can skip the Super 500 Kumamoto Masters on Nov 12-17 but play in the mandatory Super 750 China Masters on Nov 19-24.
Skipping the Kumamoto Masters will give them the much needed rest before the WTF in Hangzhou.