Indonesian coach Eng Hian issued an apology to Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah for referring them by their skin colours at the 2022 French Open.

During a Round of 16 match between the Malaysian pair and Indonesia's Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi on Thursday, he was overheard calling them “putih" (white) and “hitam" (black) during a break.

The Commonwealth Games gold medallists went on to win the match 21-16, 21-14.

After the match, a video of him uttering those words went viral, attracting criticism from badminton fans.

“I apologise to Malaysian women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan,” he said in a recorded video.

“I did not have any intention to offend them or say anything unpleasant. From the bottom of my heart, I apologise for the language used.”