PETALING JAYA: It will be a last minute dash to Birmingham for national mixed doubles shuttler Lim Chiew Sien after her original flight to the All-England was cancelled at the last minute.
Chiew Sien was scheduled to depart at 4pm on Sunday, but escalating tensions in the Middle East, which was meant to be her transit route, led to the cancellation of her flight.
She had to fork out around RM10,000 for a new ticket on the same day, opting to transit in Shanghai before connecting to London.
From there, she will travel by bus to Birmingham, with the entire journey expected to take 27 hours.
“First thing first I have to book another flight to Birmingham because anyhow I still have tournament to attend. Let see which way is the fastest to Birmingham.
“Luckily my match starts on Wednesday. So thank God I still have time to arrive and get some rest because it’s going to be a long journey. The others are already there except me, but nobody wants what’s happening in the world, right?” said Chiew Sien.
Tien Ci, along with the other professional pairs, had already arrived in Birmingham earlier.
Despite her disappointment, Chiew Sien admitted this was not the first time she had experienced a last minute flight cancellation.
“Last time we were supposed to fly to Europe on Turkish Airlines and the flight got cancelled. I forgot what the problem was, but it was quite a headache because we had to go to the airport first and sort everything out at the counter.
“That time we were fortunate because we managed to fly soon after.
“This time it’s quite unfortunate, but there’s nothing we can do, right? We just have to stay positive,” she added.
Chiew Sien faces a daunting task to get herself ready in time alongside Tien Ci as they are set to take on third seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran from Thailand in the first round of the All-England.
Last year, world No. 38 Chiew Sien-Tien Ci also featured in the tournament but bowed out in the opening round after losing to Danish pair Jesper Toft-Amalie Magelund.
