SHAH ALAM: Friendship takes a back seat once one enters the court.
That proved to be the biggest challenge for Selangor and national shuttler Eng Ler Qi in her Malaysia Games (Sukma) match against Penang’s Oo Shan Zi on Thursday (Aug 20), where she ultimately won 21-14, 21-10.
"We’re super close in training so she knew all my moves," said Ler Qi, 18, after the match in Setia City Convention Centre.
The world No. 148 Ler Qi and her teammates defeated Penang 3-0, successfully defending their women's team gold medal.
Ler Qi admitted that the Penangite typically outperformed her in training.
"Most of the times I’ve played her, she actually beats me. But the home support today made the difference," she added.
Alongside the home advantage, the self-proclaimed fan of current world No. 1 An Se-young stated that she had adopted her idol’s gameplay as well.
"After losing my match in the previous round, I realised that I needed to reset. I rewatched some of Se-young’s games and told myself to follow her lead.
"I stopped rushing my shots and played a lot calmer," added Lee Qi, whose badminton journey started at the age of 10.
Ler Qi, who reached the semi-finals of the Slovenia Open in May, will be relying on this renewed calm mindset to secure further silverware in the future, starting with the Games' individual singles event starting Friday (Aug 21).
Meanwhile, Perak defeated Sabah 3-1 to secure the women's team event bronze medal.
