PETALING JAYA: If a new contract policy works out for South Korea badminton, could it work for Malaysia too?

A successful Korean case is in reference to world No. 1 women’s singles shuttler An Se-young.

The 23-year-old is close to signing a lucrative sponsorship deal with Yonex following the Korean Badminton Association (KBA)’s change in policy in May, allowing national players to sign personal gear endorsement deals.

Se-young is on the verge of agreeing a contract with Yonex reportedly worth around US$1.44mil per year.

It’s learnt that the sports equipment giants had to battle with another brand for the reigning world and Olympic champion’s signature.

While Se-young’s contract situation seems to be nearly resolved and is proving to be a win-win deal for the player and association, Malaysia’s top women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah have yet to sign a new deal with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).

World No. 3 Pearly-Thinaah’s contract expired last December but they are yet to come to an agreement with BAM on new deals.

BAM do not allow their players to have personal sponsors (for same attire for instance), meaning that the pair could turn independent to seek better deals if they are not happy with the terms offered by the national body.

For example, men’s singles player Lee Zii Jia left BAM in 2022 and turned independent after one of his requests, which was to have his own sponsors, was rejected.

While Yonex is BAM’s main sponsor, Zii Jia went on to sign a new deal with Victor after leaving the national team.

Will Pearly-Thinaah decide to do the same? Should BAM follow KBA and change their policy to keep their top players happy or should they stick to their own way?

While former national shuttler Kwan Yoke Meng, who coached Pearly and Thinaah during their junior days, was reluctant to comment on the pair’s contract issue, he hopes that the duo remain in BAM.

“I’m not in a position to comment on Pearly-Thinaah’s contracts as I am no longer their coach. I don’t know the inside story,” said Yoke Meng.

“For me, I would prefer that they stay in BAM. They have a better chance to maintain their standards due the facilities and sparing partners available to them in BAM.”