ROSMAN PUSHES PEARLY-THINAAH TO THE LIMIT AHEAD OF ALL ENGLAND

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 (Bernama) -- National women's doubles head coach Rosman Razak is leaving no stone unturned in preparing Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah for the upcoming All England Badminton Championships, with nearly 70 per cent of the training programme dedicated to improving their physical fitness.

He admitted that Pearly-Thinaah have been feeling a little tired due to the high workload he has been putting on them as they gear up for the All England, which will be held at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham from March 3-8.

"Within the last month, about 70 per cent of our training sessions focused on improving their physical capacity. We want to enhance their endurance, strength and resilience levels on court.

"Not just for the All-England, but as the foundation to competing in other championships, because the block of training sessions after this is very much shorter,” he told reporters after the training session at Akademi Badminton Malaysia here today.

Rosman said it is crucial for Pearly-Thinaah to improve their physical endurance to maintain an aggressive rhythm during long rallies and packed competition schedules.

The coach also admitted that Pearly-Thinaah's yo-yo form remains the biggest challenge, especially when the elite pairs from China and Japan frequently switch their tactics during games.

 "We can expect them to always be in good form. In competitions, there are times their performance levels will drop. The question is how to counter this and still win, despite not being at your best… that's the hardest part,” he said.

Commenting on his expectations for the pair in Birmingham, Rosman stressed that Pearly-Thinaah cannot run away from being set the highest target of returning with the women's doubles title.

"We definitely want them to win. Pearly-Thinaah cannot run away from that fact. But I view the first and second rounds as extremely crucial for them to adapt to their court conditions and competition environment.

"If they can clear the first two hurdles smoothly, I believe their confidence will soar, and they will have a more positive momentum going into the next matches,” he said.

Meanwhile, Rosman has also described the decision not to compete in this week's German Open as a strategic move to ensure the national shuttlers are in prime shape for the All England.

"There is no such thing as a 'warm-up’ tournament, because they will still be required to win. The level of competition at the German Open is also high. This year, many shuttlers chose to focus only on the All England, so we decided to take the same approach and conserve our energy,” he said.

-- BERNAMA