Cutting down on milk tea after thirty is keeping Ratchanok happy

Sweet thing: Top women singles shuttler Intanon Ratchanok from Thailand giving a pose after reaching the semi-finals of the Malaysian Masters. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Thai shuttler Ratchanok Intanon loves milk tea but she has to cut back on her favourite drink to keep playing at the highest level in the women’s singles.

The 2013 world champion Ratchanok, who turned 30 in February, has to make sacrifices to maintain her fitness as she eyes more titles in an already glittering career.

"I love Thai milk tea but I cannot drink too much now as I get older because it’s very sweet," said Ratchanok.

"Now, I only take it sometimes and I ask for half sugar. I drink half a cup only. I need to sacrifice this to maintain my fitness which is not easy at my age.

"I've also changed my training schedule and have been building more muscles as I cannot be skinny like last time when I was younger.

Ratchanok struggled with injury issues last year but has fought hard to regain her fitness and form.

"I had injury problems three months ago. At that time, I wanted to win but my condition was still not very good," said Ratchanok.

"I felt down sometimes but I tried to rediscover my joy of playing badminton. I just tell myself that if I feel good, my body will be good too."

The world No. 11’s hard work and sacrifice has been paying dividends and helped her overcome Canada’s world No. 21 Michelle Li 24-26, 24-22, 21-12 in a 77-minute battle in the quarter-finals of the Malaysian Masters at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

Ratchanok kept alive her hopes of capturing the title for a third time after triumphing in the 2018 and 2019 editions.

The Thai though will face a tough task against China’s world No. 2 Wang Zhiyi in the semi-finals.

It was not easy for me today (yesterday) as Michelle was playing well and her mentality was also strong to win the first game," said Ratchanok.

"In the second game, she was leading quite far and I told myself to keep trying to fight back.

"Then, she made some mistakes and became nervous while I kept pushing in every rally. I am happy with the win and I just want to keep playing my best tomorrow (today).

"The most important thing is to recover physically as much as I can before the semi-finals."