Making it count: Women’s singles shuttler Siti Nurshuhaini Azman is excited to be selected for the Asia Team Championships. — FAIHAN GHANI/The Star
SHAH ALAM: Two years ago, singles shuttler Nurshuhaini Azman shone bright like a star during the Asia Team Champion-ships as she played an important role in helping the team reach the semi-finals.
The team were trailing 0-2 against Japan in the final group stage match before Nurshuhaini staged a stunning comeback by beating Hina Akechi in the third match.
Her victory paved the way for Malaysia to win the overall tie 3-2 with doubles pairs Pearly Tan-Valeree Siow and Anna Cheong-Teoh Mei Xing coming out on top in the other matches.
And the petite 19-year-old is raring to go again if she is chosen to play in this edition of the championships which starts tomorrow at the Setia Alam Convention Centre in Shah Alam.
“I’m excited to be selected for this tournament after I did well last time,” said Nurshuhaini.
“If given the opportunity to compete, I really want to go all out to get a point for the team.
“There’s not much difference between the team in 2022 and the current team.
“We are highly motivated and we want to do even better than we did last time around,” added Nurshuhaini.
Injuries have prevented Nurshuhaini from building on her encouraging showing in the team meet in 2022.
The youngster, who is currently ranked 240th in the world has been overtaken in the pecking order by the likes of K. Letshanaa (No. 56) and Wong Ling Ching (No. 75) and is not a guaranteed starter in the team meet this time.
Independent player and world No. 31 Goh Jin Wei has also been included in the team.
The doubles players in the team are Pearly, M. Thinaah, Go Pei Kee, Low Yeen Yuan, Teoh Mei Xing and Tan Zhing Yi.
Malaysia have been drawn against Thailand and United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Group Y.
The top two teams in the group will reach the last eight.
