KUALA LUMPUR: Women's pair Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting are grateful for the opportunity to play in a Super 1000 tournament when they debut at the Malaysia Open beginning tomorrow.
The world No. 125 will get their first taste of top-level badminton at the Axiata Arena, taking on 22nd-ranked Sung Shuo Yun-Yu Chien Hui of Taiwan.
Xin Yee-Carmen
were playing junior-level badminton last year, making it to the quarter-finals of the Asian, and World Junior Championships.
On the World Tour, they reached the quarter-finals of the Indonesia Masters and Malaysia Super 100, so the Malaysia Open is a huge jump in the level of competition for the 18-year-olds.
But Xin Yee said she is not feeling any pressure playing against top players.
"We are underdogs, so I don't feel any pressure to perform. We will just keep fighting, and I'm sure we will learn something from our opponents," she said after a test-court session at Axiata Arena today.
"We have analysed our opponents by watching their games, but on the court we will just play our game.
"I'm thankful to our coach for putting our names on the reserve list; we didn't think we would make our debut in a Super 1000 here. I'm excited to play here on our home ground."
Carmen added: "The level is high as everyone is a top player, so I look forward to learning from them."
National women's doubles coach Rosman Razak said: "I have not set any target for them, this is their first top-level tournament after graduating from the junior ranks.
"So I just want them to gain as much experience as possible as logically they are not at this standard yet, but they can only learn from playing against top-level opponents."