Malaysia's top badminton duo Pearly-Thinaah net record earnings in 2025

By Hoang Nguyen November 17, 2025 | 04:24 pm PT

Malaysia's most successful women's badminton doubles pair, Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan, have translated their stellar run into record earnings after competing at 17 World Tour tournaments in 2025.

The world number two pair wrapped up their regular season with style on Sunday, winning the Kumamoto Masters in Japan. This is their third World Tour title in 2025.

After 17 World Tour tournaments, the duo pocketed US$304,915 in prize money, making it their career's most lucrative season so far, New Straits Times reported.

In this campaign, Pearly and Thinaah claimed three titles, three runners-up finishes, four semi-finals, and five quarter-finals. In a sport with ultra-thin margins, their ability to consistently reach the business end of the draw propelled them into the upper bracket of earners.

Pearly Tan (R) and Thinaah Muralitharan at the 2025 Paris World Championships, where they won silver. Photo by Instagram/@__pearlytan

After the title in Japan, the pair have confirmed they will skip this week's Australian Open, choosing instead to recharge for next month's World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, China.

However, the pair's earnings could have been significantly higher. They missed out on the two tournaments with the biggest prize money, the Indonesia Open where winners earned $107,300 and the China Open where winners earned $148,000. Pearly-Thinaah finished runner-up in Jakarta and reached the semi-finals in Changzhou. Winning either event would have pushed their season earnings past $500,000.

The $304,915 total does not include substantial rewards from their historic silver medal at the Paris World Championships, the best-ever result by a Malaysian women's doubles pair. That achievement got them bonuses from the National Sports Incentive Scheme (Shakam), the BA of Malaysia (BAM), sponsors and contributors.

The year-end finals in Hangzhou now loom as the most lucrative World Tour tournament in history, with a total prize purse of $3 million. The doubles champions will receive $252,000, while all qualifiers are guaranteed at least $21,000.

A title run in Hangzhou, set for Dec. 17-21, would make Pearly-Thinaah’s campaign one of the most rewarding by a Malaysian badminton pair.