Thinaah Muralitharan BKS (born 3 January 1998) is a Malaysian badminton player. An Olympian, she and Pearly Tan created history by becoming the first ever Malaysian semi-finalists at the women's doubles event at the 2024 Summer Olympics. She won the gold medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the women's doubles with partner Pearly Tan and in the mixed team event.[1][2]
Thinaah Muralitharan தீனா முரளிதரன் | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | Malaysia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Klang, Selangor, Malaysia | 3 January 1998|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.64 m (5 ft 5 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years active | 2013–present | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Handedness | Right | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coach | Hoon Thien How Rexy Mainaky | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Women's & mixed doubles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Highest ranking | 5 (WD with Pearly Tan, 31 January 2023) 282 (XD with Tee Kai Wun, 3 March 2020) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current ranking | 9 (WD with Pearly Tan, 27 August 2024) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
BWF profile |
Career
editIn 2021, Thinaah and Pearly Tan clinched their first BWF World Tour title at the Swiss Open.[3]
In 2022, Thinaah and Tan claimed the French Open title, becoming the first ever Malaysian women's doubles pair to achieve this feat.[4]
Thinaah and her partner Tan best result in 2023 were finalists in the Malaysia Masters and Hong Kong Open.[5][6]
Thinaah and Tan became the first ever Malaysian women's doubles pair to advance to the semi-finals of an Olympic Games at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Ranked 13th in the world at the time, they were drawn alongside Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan from China, Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara from Japan, and Apriyani Rahayu and Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti from Indonesia, ranked 1st, 6th, and 9th in the world respectively.[7] Having successfully advanced from the group stage with a 2–1 record, they defeated then ranked 7th in the world Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong from Korea in the quarter-finals in straight sets, before falling to Chen and Jia in the semi-finals and Japan's Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida in the bronze medal match.
Thinaah and Tan reached their first final in 2024 at the Korea Open, finished as runner-up to home pair Jeong Na-eun and Kim Hye-jeong.[8]
Personal life
editThinaah is the second child of S. Muralitharan and Parimala Devi Kalalingam.[9] She has an older brother and a younger sister, Selinaah Muralitharan, who is a former Selangor state shuttler.[10] She is fluent in all four main languages spoken in Malaysia: Tamil, Malay, English, and Mandarin, in which she picked up from her ethnic Chinese friends whilst studying at Bukit Jalil Sports School.[11][12] In October 2024, Thinaah graduated with a Bachelor of Education in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) at Open University Malaysia. She was also conferred a special sports icon award during the convocation. [13]
Awards
editYear | Award | Category | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2022 | Selangor Sports Awards | 2021-2022 Selangor Sportswoman | Won[14] |
National Sports Awards | National women's team (with Pearly Tan) | Won[15] | |
2023 | Nambikkai Star Icon Awards | Best Sports Personality | Won[16] |
2024 | Dr. Ambedkar International Award | Won[17] | |
Open University Malaysia 28th Convocation | Sports Icon | Won[13] |
Honours
editHonours of Malaysia
edit- Selangor:
- Bintang Kecemerlangan Sukan Selangor (BKS) (2023)[18]
Achievements
editCommonwealth Games
editWomen's doubles
Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2022 | National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, England |
Pearly Tan | Chloe Birch Lauren Smith |
21–5, 21–8 | Gold | [19] |
BWF World Tour (3 titles, 4 runners-up)
editThe BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[20] is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tours are divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100.[21]
Women's doubles
Year | Tournament | Level | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | Swiss Open | Super 300 | Pearly Tan | Gabriela Stoeva Stefani Stoeva |
21–19, 21–12 | Winner | [22] |
2022 | French Open | Super 750 | Pearly Tan | Mayu Matsumoto Wakana Nagahara |
21–19, 18–21, 21–15 | Winner | [23] |
2023 | Malaysia Masters | Super 500 | Pearly Tan | Baek Ha-na Lee So-hee |
20–22, 21–8, 17–21 | Runner-up | [5] |
2023 | Hong Kong Open | Super 500 | Pearly Tan | Apriyani Rahayu Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti |
21–14, 22–24, 9–21 | Runner-up | [6] |
2024 | Korea Open | Super 500 | Pearly Tan | Jeong Na-eun Kim Hye-jeong |
12–21, 11–21 | Runner-up | [8] |
2024 | Hong Kong Open | Super 500 | Pearly Tan | Liu Shengshu Tan Ning |
21–14, 21–14 | Winner | [24] |
2024 | Arctic Open | Super 500 | Pearly Tan | Liu Shengshu Tan Ning |
12–21, 17–21 | Runner-up |
BWF International Challenge/Series (5 titles, 2 runners-up)
editWomen's singles
Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | Iran Fajr International | Lee Ying Ying | 11–8, 11–6, 9–11, 11–9 | Winner |
2018 | Dutch International | Julie Dawall Jakobsen | 21–17, 15–21, 11–21 | Runner-up |
Women's doubles
Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | Malaysia International | Payee Lim Peiy Yee | Cheng Yu-chieh Chung Kan-yu |
21–17, 21–14 | Winner |
2019 | Malaysia International | Pearly Tan | Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma Ribka Sugiarto |
21–16, 11–21, 21–18 | Winner |
2019 | Sydney International | Pearly Tan | Cheng Yu-chieh Tseng Yu-chi |
17–21, 21–17, 13–21 | Runner-up |
2019 | India International | Pearly Tan | Teoh Mei Xing Yap Ling |
21–18, 21–14 | Winner |
2019 | Bangladesh International | Pearly Tan | K. Maneesha Rutaparna Panda |
22–20, 21–19 | Winner |
- BWF International Challenge tournament
- BWF International Series tournament
References
edit- ^ Tan, Ming Wai (8 August 2022). "Pearly-Thinaah win, Malaysia surpass Commonwealth target". New Straits Times. Archived from the original on 9 August 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
- ^ Tan, Ming Wai (3 August 2022). "In smashing mood for four gold". New Straits Times. Archived from the original on 5 August 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
- ^ "Swiss Open: Pearly-Thinaah capture title". Badminton Association of Malaysia. 7 March 2021. Archived from the original on 1 November 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
- ^ Anil, Nicolas (30 October 2022). "French Open: Pearly-Thinaah create history after sensational final triumph". Stadium Astro. Archived from the original on 1 November 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
- ^ a b Tan, Ming Wai (28 May 2023). "Pearly-Thinaah go down fighting in dramatic Malaysia Masters final". New Straits Times. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ a b Anil, Nicolas (17 September 2023). "Hong Kong Open: Pearly-Thinaah finish as runners-up". Stadium Astro. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
- ^ "BWF - BWF World Rankings - Overview". bwf.tournamentsoftware.com. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
- ^ a b "Pearly-Thinaah, Runners-up In Korea Open 2024". Bernama. 1 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ "Thinaah harap Deepavali bawa tuah". Stadium Astro (in Malay). 18 October 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
- ^ Intan Maizura Ahmad Kamal (29 November 2020). "Former shuttler gets into the Asia Book of Records for the longest love poem!". New Straits Times. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
- ^ Peter, Fabian (7 May 2020). "Rising badminton stars good in 4 languages". New Straits Times. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
- ^ Anil, Nicolas (5 June 2021). "Thinaah credits partnership success with Pearly to multilingual skill". Stadium Astro. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
- ^ a b JAAYNE JEEVITA (27 October 2024). "Thinaah serves up success". The Star. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
- ^ Bernama (4 June 2023). "Karate-do exponent Sharmendran, Thinaah crowned Selangor Sportsman, Sportswoman 2021-2022". Malay Mail. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
- ^ Bernama (18 July 2023). "ASN 2022: Aaron-Wooi Yik, Joe Ee crowned national sportsman and sportswoman". The Sun Daily. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
- ^ Thinaah Muralitharan (28 October 2023). "நேற்று நடந்த நம்பிக்கை நட்சத்திரம் 2023 விருது (Star Icon Awards 2023) விழாவிற்கு என்னை அழைத்தமைக்கு மிக்க நன்றி. சிறந்த விளையாட்டாளர் விருதிற்கும் மனமார்ந்த நன்றிகள். வரும் காலங்களில் இத்துறையில் சிறப்பாகச் செயல்பட முயற்சிக்கிறேன். நன்றி. ❤️" (in Tamil). Retrieved 29 October 2023.
- ^ Wan Muthiah; Junaid Ibrahim (15 April 2024). "Leaving none on the sidelines". Retrieved 17 May 2024.
- ^ "Thinaah honoured to receive award from Selangor Sultan". The Star. 12 December 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
- ^ Tan, Ming Wai (8 August 2022). "Pearly-Thinaah win, Malaysia surpass Commonwealth target". New Straits Times. Archived from the original on 9 August 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
- ^ Alleyne, Gayle (19 March 2017). "BWF Launches New Events Structure". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
- ^ Sukumar, Dev (10 January 2018). "Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
- ^ "Swiss Open: Pearly-Thinaah capture title". Badminton Association of Malaysia. 7 March 2021. Archived from the original on 1 November 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
- ^ Anil, Nicolas (30 October 2022). "French Open: Pearly-Thinaah create history after sensational final triumph". Stadium Astro. Archived from the original on 1 November 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
- ^ Salim, Faizal (15 September 2024). "Malaysia Day inspires Pearly-Thinaah to Hong Kong Open victory". New Straits Times. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
External links
edit- Thinaah Muralitharan at BWF.TournamentSoftware.com (alternate link)
- Thinaah Muralitharan at BWFBadminton.com
- Thinaah Muralitharan at Olympics.com
- Thinaah Muralitharan at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics