PETALING JAYA: Mixed doubles shuttler Toh Ee Wei has never let setbacks break her spirit and she is not about to start now.
The world champion is facing her latest challenge with an injury but she assured fans that her recent back problem is nothing serious.
Ee Wei fell and hurt her back when competing in the China Masters with Chen Tang Jie in Shenzhen last week en route to reaching the final and was forced to withdraw from the ongoing Korean Open in Suwon.
In fact, the spunky world champion Ee Wei is eager to return to action with Tang Jie in the Denmark Open from Oct 14-19 in Odense.
She was all smiles after going through a light training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara yesterday.
“I’m going through light training this week. The physio is monitoring my condition and will see if I can return to full training next week,” said Ee Wei.
“I’m confident that I can play with Tang Jie in the Denmark Open.
I’m feeling better now. Small injuries are normal for players. We are taking this as a recovery period.”
Ee Wei and Tang Jie, who became country’s first world mixed champions in Paris last month, are not planning to take their foot off the gas despite qualifying early for the World Tour Finals.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei have confirmed their spots in the season ending Tour Finals from Dec 17-21 in Hangzhou after capturing the world title in Paris last month.
Although the duo don’t have to fight for ranking points to qualify, they are not planning to take it easy.
Instead, Tang Jie-Ee Wei are keen to maintain their fine form in the remaining tournaments of the year.
“We cannot afford to relax. We need to keep training hard and maintaining our performances leading up to the Tour Finals,” said Ee Wei.
“We treat every match seriously. We have to respect our opponents and stay focused.”
Meanwhile, independent pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie also have a chance to make the cut for the Tour Finals.
The duo are currently ranked fifth in the Race to Finals rankings and need to maintain their position in the top eight to book their spot in Hangzhou.
Soon Huat-Shevon though need to raise their game after their run in the Korean Open ended in the quarter-finals yesterday.
The world No. 8 pair went down 9-21, 21-18, 8-21 to China’s world No. 1 Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin.
Another independent duo Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien also could not find a way past Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje, losing 12-21, 8-21.
Malaysia’s challenge in the tournament came to an end after the two pairs’ defeats.
