KUALA LUMPUR: Women’s doubles shuttler Soong Fie Cho is just thankful to be back on her feet playing badminton again.
On Thursday the 2015 Sea Games gold medallist, together with her new partner Tee Jing Yi, crashed out in the quarter-finals of the Thailand International Challenge, going down 21-17, 14-21, 21-15 to Japan’s Misato Aratama-Akane Watanabe.
Fie Cho, however, was more than happy despite the result as it was her first tournament since being sidelined for more than a year following surgery on her left knee.
“Firstly I feel happy, very happy because when I got injured last year, I thought my career ended.
“Of course I felt a little nervous because playing competitive badminton is very different from training but somehow I came out alright.
“Naturally when I came to this tournament, I was scared because my movement is not as fluid as it used to be. However, I told myself to not think too much and just go with the flow,”said Fie Cho, who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL) tear at the Thailand Masters last February, when she was partnered with Amelia Alicia Anscelly.
Amelia, recently quit the BA of Malaysia (BAM) after failing to secure a permanent partner following Fie Cho’s injury.
On her partnership with Jing Yi, a former women’s singles who only made the switch to the doubles department this year, Fie Cho added: “I feel comfortable with Jing Yi because she controls the back of the court real well. Her smashes are really powerful too, so I don’t have to worry too much.
“As for now, the main focus is just to slowly regain my strength and rhythm on court.”
Meanwhile in the men’s singles, Soo Teck Zhi did well to reach the semi-finals after scoring a 21-14, 21-19 win over Japan’s Kodai Naraoka.
Teck Zhi, will is up against fifth seed Pannawit Thongnuam of Thailand next.
Also through to the last four stage are independent men’s doubles duo Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub-Jagdish Singh who saw off compatriots Aaron Chia Mohamad Syazmil Idham Zainal Abidin 12-21, 22-20, 21-11 in the quarter-finals.
It was the end of the road, however, for women’s singles S. Kisona who went down 21-11, 21-18 to Japan’s Asuka Takahashi and mixed doubles duo Hoo Pang Ron-Peck Yen Wei who lost 21-19, 21-13 to Singapore’s Danny Bawa Chrisnanta-Crystal Wong.