Amelia hoping for a breakthrough in 2015

KUALA LUMPUR: Woman doubles shuttler Amelia Alicia Anscelly has high hopes for next year.

The 26-year-old is looking to improve on her partnership with Soong Fie Cho next year as she sets her sights on qualifying for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Amelia-Fie Cho, ranked 28th in the world, have made steady progress since being paired up two years ago.

They have since established themselves as the country’s No. 2 pair.

Amelia-Fie Cho retained their crown at the Iran International Challenge in February and also reached the quarter-finals of the Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold and the Badminton Asian Championship in March and April respectively to climb as high as 23rd in the world rankings in July.

But Amelia says she won’t be satisfied until “we achieve a major breakthrough”.

“It’s been a good year so far ... not great. Fie Cho and I have bigger ambitions,” said Amelia after losing a mixed doubles match with her Serdang BC partner Tan Yip Jiun in the Kopiko Purple League at the Sports Arena Sentosa in Jalan Klang Lama on Friday.

“We’re hoping to break into the world’s top 15 by the end of next year. We need to be in that position to give ourselves a chance to qualify for the Olympics.

“But we will have to perform better in the Superseries events.

“Our main weaknesses have been a lack of focus and inconsistency. We have what it takes to  match the higher-ranked pairs ... it’s just that we don’t have the right winning mentality. 

Yesterday, Serdang BC’s Amelia-Yip Jiun succumbed to their second mixed doubles loss in three matches when they went down 11-10, 1-6, 1-9 to Petaling Jaya BC’s Sudket Prapakamol-Prajakta Sawant. 
Serdang BC went on to lose 15 games to seven to Petaling Jaya BC.

In another tie, Kepong BC, powered by several national players including Chong Wei Feng, thrashed Bangsar Hawks BC  16-7.