KUALA LUMPUR – Although national women’s singles shuttler Siti Nurshuhaini Azman has been sitting out several tournaments after recovering from hamstring and heel injuries, singles coaching director Wong Choong Hann said he believes she is getting the proper preparation ahead of the 2023 Cambodia SEA Games.
Choong Hann said the 18-year-old player is unfazed by the poor results the national contingent brought home during the Hanoi edition of the games last year, where Nurshuhaini was eliminated in the preliminary round and was also part of the team event that lost 3-1 to the hosts in the quarterfinals.
“I don’t think she is scared or traumatised by it. She has been playing recently and has been doing well.
“There will also be tournaments before the SEA Games in May that are in her schedule and will help her prepare further,” he said when met at the Daikin International Badminton tournament yesterday.
The 2023 Phnom Penh SEA Games is scheduled to take place from May 5 to 17.
Nurshuhaini had picked up hamstring and heel injuries during the Malaysia International Challenge Badminton Championship in Perak last December, where she exited the tournament in the round of 16.
Nurshuhaini failed to make it into the Uganda International Challenge last month after the world number 192 shuttler crashed out in the third round of qualifying, while the Badminton Association of Malaysia’s (BAM) most recent returnee K. Letshanaa went on to win the tournament.
Meanwhile, Choong Hann said that since Letshanaa only recently rejoined the national setup, BAM will allow her to participate in the tournaments she had already registered for.
“We will meet Letshanaa in the middle and allow her to complete the tournaments she had entered before returning to BAM.
“We will continue her training from there,” said Choong Hann.
At the currently ongoing Thailand International Challenge, Letshanaa failed to make it past the qualification rounds after she lost to Taiwan’s Tung Ciou-Tong 21-18, 21-10.
At the same time, men’s singles shuttlers Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin and Jacky Kok failed to reach Choong Hann’s target for them to make it to the tournament’s quarterfinals after they both crashed out in the round of 16 yesterday. – The Vibes, March 10, 2023
