KUALA LUMPUR: The national badminton squad received another blow on the eve of the Asian Games in Indonesia as the participation of top mixed doubles, Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying is now in jeopardy.
This follows Liu Ying picking up an achilles injury on her left leg during the mixed doubles quarter-final at the World Championships in Nanjing, China, against Hong Kong opponents and third seeds Tang Chan Man-Tse Ying Suet earlier today (Friday).
During the encounter, Peng Soon-Liu Ying went down fighting 12-21, 21-11, 10-21 which effectively ended their run in the prestigious championship.
Mixed doubles head coach, Pang Cheh Chang said that they will have to wait for the medical report before any decision can be made concerning the World No 9 pair’s participation at the Games, where the duo are regarded as a medal prospect.
“Actually Liu Ying was having problems since yesterday (Thursday). However today in the first game, Liu Ying continued to struggle and it showed while she was trying to return a shot from Chung Man. However at the time she could still carry on playing but it can’t be denied that it did affect their play.
“It was evident in the second game that Liu Ying’s movement was restricted but still they managed to win the game to force the match into the rubber (third) game, and there onwards their opponents made changes to their match strategy, as Peng Soon had to work very hard to cover for the injured Liu Ying.
“Whether Liu Ying’s injury is serious or not, I will just have to wait and see from the medical report first as well as gauge the recovery process before any further decision on their participation in the Games can be made,” said Cheh Chang when contacted earlier.
Before this, the national badminton squad already had to suffer a severe blow when gold medal prospect in men’s singles, Lee Chong Wei had to pull out from taking part in the Games after encountering health problems, which resulted in him having to miss out on the ongoing World Championships as well.
If Liu Ying is unable to recover from her injury in time, then Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing will take their place at Asia’s biggest sporting event.