Bogged by injuries
Indra: Kisona has potential to be in world’s top 10
PETALING JAYA: Women’s singles head coach Indra Wijaya believes S. Kisona has what it takes to become a world top 10 player and he aims to help her get there.
But the 46-year-old was unable to commit on a time frame as to when the 22-year-old Kisona would accomplish it.
It is understandable why Indra prefers to play it safe as Kisona has been battling with injuries.
“If you asked me if she has the quality to become one (world top 10 player), I would say yes,” said Indra, a former Thomas Cup winner.
“But it’s not that simple. There’s a lot of other factors that will determine whether she succeeds or not.
“It’s all about the process of getting there. She’s been through a lot of injuries and I must say this is a big challenge for me.”
Kisona is currently struggling with tight quads after competing in the President’s Cup, an internal team tournament organised by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), last month.
The same injury also saw her pulling out of the BAM Invitational Championships in August.
“It’s not a major injury but enough to cause disruption to her training programme.
“We’re forced to reduce her workload because there’s no point pushing her if she’s not in good condition.”
Kisona had been touted as a rising star since 2014 but a couple of injuries has held her back.
The last was a knee injury which she suffered after retaining the Malaysian International Series title in Penang in November, 2018.
She returned to action only in April last year. And then, everything went well.
Kisona won two titles, the Hellas Open in Greece in August and Sydney International in September as well as reaching the semi-finals of the Malaysian International Series in June and the Bulgarian Open in September.
A string of fine results saw her replace the ailing Goh Jin Wei in the individual event at the Philippines SEA Games. She went on to surprise everyone with the gold medal.
Just three months later, the Covid-19 pandemic brought the sports world to a standstill and with it Kisona’s dreams of more recognition.
The lengthy suspension could not have come at a worse time as she was gradually developing her game and was on the threshold of establishing herself in the badminton world.
In her only outing of the year, Kisona proved that her SEA Games success was no fluke when she stunned Japanese world No. 19 Aya Ohori in the group stages of the Asia Team Championship in February.
It was also her first victory over a top 20 player.