Two-time Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen has been watching  national women’s pair Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah in action, and complimented the duo for their attacking badminton.

“I love watching your styles, it’s great to see. I must give you credit for that,” said Axelsen on The Average Not Average Podcast. 

An offensive shuttler himself, Axelsen was also curious if the Malaysians’ sudden on-court ferocity came naturally or initiated by their coaches.

Thinaah explained: “It comes naturally. In doubles you need to have a kill shot, Pearly is a huge smasher and she's way more aggressive than I am. We do enjoy the attacking and rotation, our coaches emphasize on that a lot.

“This is our identity that we also lost in recent matches and we are trying to get back. At the Indonesia Masters we got some rhythm back so we are working on that,” she said, adding that pressure will always be there.

“We are number two in the world, but in Malaysia we are the number one pair. But we are always trying to get better for ourselves. It doesn’t have to be a big change, even a 1% change helps.”

Tan-Thinaah’s overall gameplay, including their attacking instincts have certainly got higher after Rosman Razak took over as the women’s doubles head coach in 2024.

This year, the world number two have already picked up one title at the Indonesia Masters last month.

Meanwhile Axelsen, who is currently out of competitive action as he continues to recover from injury, admits he misses the pressure on-court.

“It’s an interesting lesson. I miss the feeling of pressurem, having been outside of the game. The high stakes situation, eventhough you may lose that match, that’s probably what you will miss when you retire,” he said.