PETALING JAYA: Women’s singles shuttler Wong Ling Ching has received a timely boost ahead of the Malaysian Masters at the Unifi Arena in Bukit Jalil after earning a debut spot at the World Championships in India in August.
Ling Ching also moved up two spots in the latest world rankings to No. 33, just one rung below fellow Malaysian K. Letshanaa.
However, Ling Ching is not getting carried away by the good news as she knows there is still a big gap between her and the world’s top players.
“I was actually shocked when I found out that I had qualified for the World Championships because I thought I had seen it wrongly.
“Honestly, I feel that I need to work even harder because qualifying for the World Championships is a huge achievement for any player.
“To be honest, I am not overly happy because I see this as a responsibility, and for me, the World Championships will be a very different tournament compared to the ones I have played in before.
“I will use this opportunity as motivation for myself,” said Ling Ching
She has already held discussions with her coach Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin on how to further improve her training programme.
The Malaysian Masters will also give Ling Ching a chance to see if the adjustments made to her training in recent weeks are paying off when she takes on seventh seed Nguyen Thuy Linh of Vietnam in the first round today.
“After the Uber Cup Finals, I discussed my training programme for the Malaysian Masters and Australian Open with coach Iskandar, and we made a few changes.
“Maybe the Malaysian Masters will be a test of what we have been working on,” added Ling Ching.
Also in action will be Letshanaa, who faces Denmark’s Amalie Schulz, while Goh Jin Wei takes on fourth seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand.
