Pearly Tan Smashes Guinness World Records with Badminton Hit at 438km/h

National player Pearly Tan has her name written in the Guinness World Records and badminton history books for achieving the fastest female badminton smash. The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) shared her remarkable achievement on their Facebook page, stating that her smash was clocked at an incredible 438km/h. This makes her faster than an F1 car, which was recorded as being 397km/h at the 2005 F1 Italian Grand Prix.

The Kedah-born 23-year-old player previously clinched gold in the women's doubles and mixed team event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Besides the latest honour, Tan held a record of the unofficial longest rally along with her partner M.Thinaah when the pair engaged in a 211-shot exchange against Rena Miyaura-Ayako Sakuramoto at the Malaysia Masters in May. The two are currently ranked no.11 in the women’s doubles.

BAM also elaborated that her attempts were recorded on 14 April 2023 and were verified by the World Record judges.

The Badminton World Federation also made note of her record, saying that her feat was carried out at a gymnasium at Yonex Co., Ltd. Tokyo Factory in Soka, Saitama, Japan.

According to Yonex’s website, Tan is the first female Guinness World Records title holder in the category. The measurement method used was as such: the moments of impact in the actual smash were captured using a high-speed camera.

The instant velocity of the shuttlecock after the impact was then calculated from the photographic recording. Tan used a Yonex Nanoflare 1000 Z to land the smash. On the same day at the Yonex Factory, Indian player Satwiksairaj Rankireddy also set a record for the fastest badminton hit by a male at 565km/h.

Their badminton smashes were also comparatively faster than many other ball sports. Unfortunately, the Tan-Thinaah duo’s campaign in the Korean Open in Yeosu came to an end in the second round on 20 July when they lost to China’s world no.1 pair. Watch a video of Tan’s remarkable dropshots and smashes here:

Image credit: yonex.com, Badminton World Federation