Pei Jing confident injured partner Kian Meng will be fit for Finals
JAYA: Independent mixed doubles shuttler Lai Pei Jing’s trust in Tan Kian Meng knows no bounds.
Kian Meng is down with a foot injury but Pei Jing is confident that her partner will recover in time to be ready for the World Tour Finals in Guangzhou from Dec 14-18.
The duo have pulled out from the Australian Open starting tomorrow in Sydney to give Kian Meng the time to heal.
“Now that we have skipped the Australian Open, Kian Meng will have enough time to fully recover from his foot injury,” said Pei Jing.
“We have a month until the Finals for Kian Meng to build some muscles to protect his foot. It should not be a problem for us to make it to Guangzhou.”
Kian Meng had sustained the injury in training before the Denmark Open and had been playing through the pain barrier with the aid of painkillers.
Despite the injury, he had soldiered on with Pei Jing in three back-to-back tournaments in Denmark, French and Germnay – to fight for a place in the prestigious Finals, but were shown exit in the early rounds.
Kian Meng had also played in men’s doubles in all three tourneys with Tan Wee Kiong.
His efforts has been rewarded as they have assured themselves a place in the Finals after finishing fifth in the Race to Guangzhou rankings.
Only the top eight pairs will qualify for the Finals.
Fellow independent pair, Goh Soon Huat-shevon Lai Jemie have also guaranteed themselves a ticket to Guangzhou with a fourth place finish.
Overall, Kian Meng-pei Jing’s best result this year came in April when they captured the Korean Open.
They also reached the last-four of the Indian Open (January) and Swiss Open (March).