PETALING JAYA: As iron sharpens iron, the presence of national women’s doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah is expected to elevate the standard of the second-tier players under the care of coach Rosman Razak.

That’s why Rosman is thrilled with the duo’s decision to remain in the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).

He believes the seniors’ commitment devotion and intensity during sparring session will be invaluable in narrowing the gap between them and the younger shuttlers in the squad.

Pearly-Thinaah ended months of speculation over their future by signing a four-year contract with BAM on Thursday, extending their stay until 2028 after their previous deal expired in December.

Rosman believes that the world No. 3 duo’s decision to stay in the national body was a huge boost for the youngsters in the team as he seeks to produce more pairs to support Pearly-Thinaah.

“Pearly-Thinaah being in the team helps a lot because with them there, the juniors have role models to look up to. I’m thankful to BAM for resolving their contracts,” said Rosman after overseeing a training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara yesterday.

“They are a good example to the youngsters, not just when it comes to the game but also their commitment as becoming a top pair is not easy.

“Training with Pearly-Thinaah everyday and watching them play in tournaments will definitely help the youngsters progress.”

Currently, world No. 22 Teoh Mei Xing-Go Pei Kee are the highest ranked pair in Malaysia behind Pearly-Thinaah while younger pairs Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting and Dania Sofea Zaidi-Low Zi Yu are also showing promise.

Xin Yee, 18 and Carmen, 19 won bronze in the Asian Junior Championships last year and are currently ranked No. 42 in the world.

Dania-Zi Yu, who are still only 17 and 14 respectively captured silver in the World Junior Championships last year and impressed by winning their first senior title in the Slovak Open in May.

“I’m quite happy with junior pairs like Xin Yee-Carmen and Dania-Zi Yu’s progress so far,” said Rosman.

“With Pearly-Thinaah in the team, the youngsters know the gap between them and the top pairs and they are working hard to improve their levels.”

Pearly-Thinaah, Pei Kee-Mei Xing and Xin Yee-Carmen will next compete in the Japan Open which starts next Tuesday in Tokyo.

Pearly-Thinaah will open their campaign against world No. 16 Bulgarian sisters Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva while both Pei Kee-Mei Xing and Xin Yee-Carmen have tough first round matches against world No. 4 Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee and world No. 6 homesters Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi respectively.