Nova: June Wei still plagued by inconsistency and lack of stamina

PETALING JAYA: Nova Armada has called on independent shuttler Cheam June Wei to work on his consistency and stamina after the latter suffered a first round exit at the Australian Open on Wednesday.

The Indonesian coach feels that his charge was still plagued by a lack of both of these and it contributed to his 17-21, 14-21 loss to Japan’s world No. 20 Kenta Nishimoto in Sydney.

“Inconsistency and a lack of fitness is still June Wei’s biggest weaknesses. In the match against the Japanese, June Wei was leading 15-9 and 11-9 in the first and second games respectively but he allowed his opponent to catch up and overtake him both times,” said Nova.

“His opponent was also really fit and this was an advantage for him.”

June Wei had looked to have found some form in recent outings after he reached the semi-finals of the Vietnam Open and finished runners-up at the Indonesian Masters last month.

His good performances had propelled him 14 rungs up the world rankings from No. 65 to No. 51.

The setback in Sydney though, showed that he had plenty of work still to do to continue his upward trajectory.

Meanwhile, there were some joy for women’s singles shuttler Goh Jin Wei, who also trains under Nova at Sports Affairs after she reached the quarter-finals to set-up a meeting against Thailand’s world No. 9 Pornpawee Chochuwong.

World No. 44 Jin Wei breezed past India’s Anwesha Gowda 21-7, 21-13 in the second round at Quay Centre in Sydney yesterday.

Nova was pleased with his charge for making the last-eight but acknowledged that she faced a tough task against Pornpawee today.

“The target was for Jin Wei to at least reach the quarter-finals and if possible the semis.

“Her physical condition is good and it suits her that the matches here are played in the evening as she has more time to rest and prepare in the morning.

“Now that she has reached the last-eight, she needs to go out there and fight hard against the Thai today,” added Nova.