Raw talent: Letshanaa is short of big match exposure before playing against the world’s best at the Asian Games.
PETALING JAYA: The Indonesia Masters, which begins in Medan tomorrow, will be a good testing ground for women’s singles shuttler K. Letshanaa before she competes in the first major event in her career – the Asian Games in Hangzhou (Sept 23-Oct 8).
Letshanaa, 20, has only played in one super 500 event this year, which is the Korean Open in Yeosu three months ago, and will be short of big match exposure before playing against the world’s best at the Asian Games.
However, national women’s singles coach K. Yogendran feels Letshanaa has received a golden opportunity to compete at the Asian Games and must make the most of it.
“Letshanaa has been training very hard and has improved physically and also polished up her skills. Not every player gets the chance to compete at the Asian Games at a young age and she must utilise this opportunity to establish career,” said Yogendran.
“While she has shown marked improvement, she has not competed in any international tournaments since the Korea Open.
“So, the Indonesia Masters is important for her as it will be a test to see if she can play to her true form during tournaments.
“As coaches, we want to see her going all the way to the title but there are many good players in the tournament including Japanese shuttler Nozomi (Okuhara).
“She needs to get used to performing in tough events and must also get adjusted to the draught in the hall here. That is also another challenge if she wants to do well.”
Letshanaa will meet Bulgarian Kaloyana Nalbantova in her opening round and is likely to take on Taiwan’s Huang Yu-hsun in the second round and may play Indonesian Koman Ayu in the quarter-finals.
She will also play in the Vietnam Open in Ho Chi Minh City from Sept 12-17 where she will meet Yulia Yosephine of Indonesia in the first round.
Meanwhile, another Malaysian shuttler Wong Ling Ching has withdrawn from the Indonesia Masters as she could not fully recover from the food poisoning that she suffered during the Indonesia International Challenge that ended yesterday.
Yogendran said Ling Ching was still weak and may suffer an injury if she proceeds to compete in the Indonesia Masters this week.
