PETALING JAYA: Wong Ling Ching is going places, judging by the frank assessment of national women’s singles coach James Chua.
James said the 20-year-old Ling Ching has the potential to go far if she keeps up her good work.
In fact, James was pleasantly surprised by her calm demeanour as she faced 2019 world champion P. V. Sindhu in the crucial Group B tie against India at the Asian Mixed Team Championships in Dubai on Thursday.
Ling Ching, who was making her debut in the mixed team meet, was surprisingly given the nod to play against world No. 9 Sindhu ahead of the country’s No. 1 Goh Jin Wei and she gave a good account of herself before going down 13-21, 17-21.
James was satisfied with world No. 186 Ling Ching’s encouraging performance.
“First of all, I’m happy that singles coaching director Choong Hann placed his trust in Ling Ching.
“Being able to replace Jin Wei to play against Sindhu is a big encouragement for Ling Ching for her future.
“She could have even taken the match into a third game after leading 11-4 in the second but unfortunately couldn’t quite manage it,” said James.
He was especially pleased by Ling Ching’s fearless performance in such an important match.
“She didn’t crumble under pressure and this was really positive for me.
“Honestly, I was glad that she could play a close game against Sindhu as she has improved a lot in training recently.
“She managed to translate her performances in training into the match.
“I feel that she only played to about 80 to 90 per cent of her full capabilities, which is really good for a player, who is playing in such a big match for the first time,” said James.
Ling Ching has progressed rapidly since joining the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) last October.
“She was ranked 500th in the world in October and has done very well to climb up the rankings so fast.
“She’s very committed and trains hard and needs to keep up her good work to become a top player,” concluded James.
