Kuala lumpur: The quality of the national women's doubles is still far from satisfactory following the absence of a Malaysian representative in the second round of the Malaysia Masters 2026 at the Unifi Arena, Bukit Jalil, here. National Women's Doubles head coach Rosman Razak expressed concerns over the performance levels of his players, particularly the seventh seed Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting and the young team of Low Zi Yu-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan, stating their play is not yet on par with their competitors.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Rosman emphasized that although Ong Xin Yee and Carmen Ting are considered the main hopes, their progress is still in stages of trial and error, including dealing with match pressure. Rosman remarked, "The process has ups and downs but it does not mean that players should continue to accept defeat. Every day they face different problems and that is very important for their progress at a young age and to reach the next level." This statement came after the first round, where Xin Yee-Carmen, despite being seventh seeds, were defeated by Taiwan's Hsieh Yi En-Teng Chun Hsun with scores of 15-21, 20-22.
Rosman further acknowledged the dominance of the Chinese pair Bao Li Jing-Cao Zi Han over Zi Yu-Noraqilah in the first-round match, which ended 18-21, 12-21. He noted, "They are trying to play at their current level but I think we need to increase their intensity and skill level because they have not reached a high level yet."
Additional challenges faced by the national team were highlighted as two other pairs, Cheng Su Hui-Tan Zhing Hui and Chong Jie Yu-Vanessa Ng, also exited the tournament in the early rounds. Cheng Su Hui and Tan Zhing Hui were defeated by Japan's Arisa Igarashi-Chiharu Shida with scores of 8-21, 12-21, while Chong Jie Yu and Vanessa Ng lost to Taiwanese pair Chen Yan Fei-Sun Liang Ching, 16-21, 17-21.
The national camp was already dealing with setbacks following the withdrawal of Malaysia's top women's doubles pair, Pearly Tan and M Thinaah, from the Malaysia Masters 2026. The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) announced via Facebook that the withdrawal was due to Pearly's injury. Rosman commented separately that although Pearly's recovery is progressing well, it is still premature for her to return to the court.