KUALA LUMPUR: Doubles specialist Teoh Mei Xing is patiently waiting for the return of her partner Anna Cheong who has yet to recover from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.
Anna, 24, was forced to go under the surgeon's knife to repair a ruptured ACL in her right knee last year. She has not seen action since October.
Mei Xing, 25, is currently partnered with Go Pei Kee in the women's doubles and Hoo Pang Ron in the mixed doubles but has made it clear that she is eager to reunite with Anna.
"She (Anna) is currently working hard to get back into shape. It seems that she has regained some of her strength but it's still too early to make a competitive comeback as her knee still needs more time to completely heal," said Mei Xing today.
"I'm ready to welcome her back, anytime she's ready. We made quite encouraging progress just before her surgery so we want to pick up where we left off.
"We both share the same ambition and have many unfulfilled goals. If not for Anna's injury, we would have qualified for the All England this year. We would have likely been able to fight for a place in the World Tour Finals.
"But it's alright. We will pursue all these goals together when she's back."
The duo had achieved a number of positive results prior to Anna's injury and scaled a career-high world No 17. They won the India Open and also recorded wins against renowned South Korean pair Lee So-hee-Shin Seung-chan and Japan's Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara last year.
Mei Xing has since done reasonably well with Pang Ron and Pei Kee, reaching both the mixed and women's doubles finals with them at the Iran International Challenge earlier this month.
Mei Xing has been included for the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships which begins in Dubai on Tuesday.