Malaysia’s women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan ended the country’s 12-year wait for a women’s doubles medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, but for Thinaah, the bronze meant much more than a medal for the country.
The Malaysian shuttler revealed that she had gone through an extremely difficult month after losing both her grandmother and beloved pet rabbit, Roger, just weeks apart.
Thinaah’s grandmother passed away on August 21, two days after the World Championships began in New Delhi. Despite the difficult circumstances, she said she was grateful that she managed to fly home and see her grandmother one last time. She described her grandmother as someone who would always look forward to seeing her return home after competitions.
“I did come home this time, but it was already too late,” Thinaah wrote in a social media post, adding that knowing her grandmother passed away peacefully gave her some comfort.
Three weeks later, she lost her beloved rabbit
Just three weeks later, Thinaah suffered another loss when her pet rabbit Roger passed away. She said Roger also left peacefully without suffering, and she took comfort in believing that her beloved pet was now somewhere better, free to hop around happily.
The back-to-back losses made the past month particularly difficult for Thinaah. After flying home to deal with family matters, she returned almost immediately to training, leaving little time for herself to rest and process everything. She admitted she did not know how she managed to keep going, but eventually, she did.
Grateful for Pearly and her coaches
Thinaah also expressed her gratitude to her coaches and especially her doubles partner, Pearly Tan, for understanding what she was going through and giving her the space she needed. She acknowledged that having to deal with everything and adjust their preparations had not been easy, and thanked Pearly for staying by her side during one of the hardest periods of her life.
Asian Games helped her regain focus
By the time the Asian Games arrived, Thinaah said she had managed to regain some of her focus and composure on court. She also praised Pearly, who had been recovering from a back injury, for helping the pair turn things around during the competition.
Although they fell short of the final and missed out on a shot at gold, Thinaah said they still had reason to be proud of what they achieved given everything they had been through over the previous month.
“Never leave anything on the court and enjoy the game,” she said, adding that while gold was naturally their goal, they also had to give themselves credit. The bronze medal ended Malaysia’s 12-year wait for a women’s doubles medal at the Asian Games.
For Thinaah, however, the medal carries a deeply personal meaning.
“This medal is dedicated to the country, but it is also dedicated to my grandmother and my rabbit, who are watching over me from above,” she said.
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