KUALA LUMPUR – Independent women’s singles shuttler K. Letshanaa aims to participate in more international tournaments, to better her world ranking to be able to compete in the higher tier tournaments.
The 19-year-old managed to climb up to 257 from 520 within a month after featuring in Sydney International, Bendigo International in Australia and North Harbour International in New Zealand after returning with a Malaysia Games (Sukma) silver medal in September, following nine months of rehabilitation for a back injury.
“Winning Sukma silver after nine months rehab period was a good start after I lost tournament feelings.
“Through the three tournaments, I was able to push my world rankings from 520 to below 300, while my game was better compared to my performance in Sukma.
“My ultimate target is to reach the top 10 in the world rankings, compete in Super Series tournaments, World Championships and Olympics, and win medals for Malaysia,” she told Bernama.
Letshanaa, who shot into the limelight after winning the national under-18 title at the tender age of 14 back in 2017, aims to feature in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Apart from the 2022 Sukma silver, she also won the 2018 Mauritius International title and was part of the Malaysian team who won the 2021 Sudirman Cup and 2018 Asian Junior Championships mixed team bronze medals in Vantaa, Finland and Jakarta, Indonesia respectively.
Letshanaa, who is currently training under her father A. Karupathevan and elder brother Jhotiswaran as an independent player, had achieved her best ranking of 185 in March 2019, before slipping below 700 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Letshanaa, who quit the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) due to a back injury early this year, hopes to raise around RM300,000 via crowdfunding to secure her participation in more than 10 tournaments until the end of next year to improve her world rankings. – Bernama, November 2, 2022
