TUC 2010 Day 2 – Malaysian Tigresses Move Into Quarters

The Malaysian girls were expected to cruise past U.S.A. in a Group A tie and they certainly did so but not in convincing fashion. Top Malaysian women singles player Wong Mew Choo got the ball rolling for the home team by easily earning the first point, beating Rena Wang 21-7, 21-10. However, she wasn’t satisfied with her performance against the American today.

“I adopted a safe strategy in today’s match and I didn’t dare to play some shots. I’m not really satisfied with my game today and my movements were quite slow. It will be very tough against China tomorrow but we will go all out and hope for a miracle. Tomorrow’s is actually not the most important match, the most important thing is that we have qualified for the quarter-finals and hopefully we will get a favourable draw,” said Mew Choo.

With Malaysia 1-0 up, 19-year-old Tee Jing Yee (photo up) then stepped up to the court to take on Eva Lee in the second singles. Jing Yee, who was a substitute in the previous Uber Cup Finals, made quick work of her opponent with a score of 21-12, 21-14. Her parents, who were in the stands, purposely came to support their daughter in the tournament.

“I had no pressure today but I was a little nervous as this is my first time playing in the Uber Cup.  I forced myself not to think too much and just played a fast attacking game and it worked. As for tomorrow, it will be very tough but I certainly hope to get the chance to play against China. I realize that there is a huge gap between the Chinese players and me in terms of speed and experience. But I’ll try to get as many points as possible tomorrow and hopefully not lose by a huge margin,” Jing Yee.

Lydia’s sister up to the task

The absences of more experienced players such as Julia Wong and Lydia Cheah from the home team due to injuries were felt even though they achieved victory. The inexperience and nervousness of the Malaysian youngsters were evident as they needed rubber games to dispose of their opponents.

Sonia Cheah Su Ya (photo, left)  took 46 minutes to tame Cee Nantana Ketpura (photo below) 21-16, 16-21, 21-9 in the third singles.  The U.S. youngster is one of the most promising Pan Am shuttlers –  while Woon Khe Wei / Ng Hui Lin needed 51 minutes to get the better of Eva Lee / Mesinee Mangkalakiri 21-17, 22-24, 21-14.

“My stamina was not up to par today because I have yet to recover from the World Junior Championships in Mexico. Besides, I was a little nervous as this is a big tournament. My sister (Lydia) did advise me to be cool and not to be nervous. The support from my parents and my sister and the supporters in the stands encouraged me to go on. In the third game, I was able to control the shuttle more and also cut down on silly mistakes,” said the 16-year-old Sonia.

On her chances against China tomorrow, Sonia said she will fight all out regardless of whom she will be playing against. She takes it as a good learning experience playing in the Uber Cup Finals as it is a big tournament involving top players.

Hui Lin added that they will have no pressure playing against China tomorrow as they are the underdogs. “Nobody expects us to win so we will just play our game and hope for the best,” said Hui Lin.

Malaysian women’s doubles pair Chin Eei Hui / Wong Pei Tty showed everyone why they are among the top doubles players in the world by sweeping aside Priscilla Lun / Keui-Ya Chen 21-9, 21-8.

As the captain of the team, Pei Tty was very happy that Malaysia won the tie and advanced to the quarterfinals. “The USA are not a very tough team to beat but the juniors were rather nervous today. They will be more confident in the next match tomorrow. China has 3 very strong doubles pairings and we can’t be sure who we will play against. But it doesn’t make a difference.  We have nothing to lose and will just play our game,” said Pei Tty.

In the Group D tie between India and South Africa, the Indian girls steamrolled across the South Africans 5-0 with all games ending in straight sets.