PETALING JAYA: Soniia Cheah may no longer be a competitive shuttler but she will remain involved in badminton on a different role.
The 29-year-old independent shuttler, who has decided to retire due to a persistent Achilles tendon injury, has taken up a new duty as a part-time coach at her own centre, Sunheart Badminton Academy.
“I’m currently studying Sports Science at the University of Malaya and coaching part-time at my own academy on weekends,” said Soniia.
“I also run a small food and beverage business with my siblings.”
Sonia was only 20 when she was injured in 2013, and she had to undergo four surgeries.
Despite dealing with a continuous ankle injury, she did not give up because of her love for badminton.
Soniia , who made a remarkable comeback to qualify for last year’s first Olympic Games in Tokyo, decided to give another shot at the Australia Open last month, but her condition and performance were poor.
“I aggravated my injury after the Indonesia Open in June.”
“I took a two-week break before returning to training, but the pain was still there and it got worse with each training session.”
“I gave one more try at the Australia Open but I couldn’t play my game. It was very painful even though I took painkillers before competing,” she explained.
Soniia had mixed emotions about retiring, but she had no choice as she could not bear with the pain any longer.
“Things began to get worse to the point where sometimes, I could feel the pain even while sleeping.”
“Even if I play on, I don’t think I can go far or meet my goals. I do feel upset because there were a lot of ups and downs that were difficult for me to handle,” she said.
Soniia believed that she had learned a lot from her sports career.
“I learned a lot about life values from badminton,” she said.
“Before becoming an independent player, I was pretty restricted, closed-minded, and overly focused on winning or losing.”
“I’ve learned how to stand up for myself when I’m down, how to handle emotions when I’m injured, how to control my thinking and mindset, and how to stay dedicated to everything I do,” she added.
