Time for Soniia to step up — Choong Hann

KU�L� LUMPUR: National women’s singles shuttler Soniia Cheah is now mature enough to understand what she needs to go through in order to qualify for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, says Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) doaching director Wong Choong Hann.

He said the player was aware that she needed to face her opponents, whether they were difficult or easy, and show more convincing results to the management.

“She (Soniia) in our radar (for the Olympic Games) and she needs to prove her ability, because we look at the actual performance rather than evaluating a player through his or her ranking.

“Soniia is on our list to qualify for the Olympics. We are pushing her and said to her this is the time to do it. In fact, this (message) is not only for Soniia but all the players.

“I said to them, they have to do it now or they will miss the boat,” he told reporters after a working committee meeting here, yesterday.

Choong Hann said the BAM was closely monitoring the performance of Soniia who is ranked 34th in the world, and said she had provided good cooperation and worked hard to tackle the problems, however, there is still much ground to cover.

“(For the) on court training with (coach) Datuk Tey Seu Bock, we have modified our programme ... the intensity was raised to get her into better shape.

“Off the court, (we are working) on strenghth and conditioning. We are looking at ways to improve her. We also have lots of discussions with her on this matter,” he said.

In another development, Choong Hann said all 16 registered players will be departing to Nanning, China this Thursday to join the Sudirman Cup from May 19 to 26.

Malaysia have been drawn into Group D with China and India, with first seeds Japan in Group A with Thailand and Russia, while Indonesia, Denmark and England have been drawn into Group B.

Malaysia will be sending Lee Zii Jia, Cheam Jun Wei and Soong Joo Vern for the men’s individual event; Goh Jin Wei, Soniia and Lee Ying Ying (women’s individual); Aaron ChiaSoh Wooi Yik, Teo Ee Yi-Ong Yew Sin and Nur Izzuddin (men’s doubles); Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean and Vivian Hoo-Yap Cheng Wen (women’s doubles) and Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai, Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing, Chen Tang Jie (mixed doubles).

In the last edition in Gold Coast, Australia, two years ago, the national squad only reached the quarterfinals

Malaysia has never won the biennial Sudirman Cup since it was introduced in 1989, with the best achievement of reaching the semi-finals in the 2009 edition in Guangzhou, China.