PETALING JAYA: Women’s singles shuttler K. Letshanaa (pic) needs to improve on her fitness to move higher up the rankings.
Letshanaa received a confidence boost after she made it into her first World Tour Super 100 final in the Indonesian Masters in Surabaya recently.
Despite finishing runner-up after going down 19-21, 17-21 to homester Ni Kadek Dhinda, the 21-year-old still moved up eight rungs in the latest world rankings to No. 55.
National coach Jeffer Rosobin believes that Letshanaa can do better if she becomes fitter.
“I can see that Letshanaa has improved overall and is gaining in confidence,” said Jeffer.
“She still needs to work on her fitness to become a better player. She was playing well in the final in Indonesia but could not sustain her form until the end in both the games.
“So, this is where she needs to improve on. I hope this result spurs her on to do better and continue to move up the rankings.”
Letshanaa has steadily improved her form lately when she also reached the last eight of the Malaysia Super 100 and the semi-final of the Indonesian International Challenge.
Before that, the 2023 national champion had suffered early round defeats in all her international tournaments this year.
Jeffer, who was promoted to the women’s singles coaching position from the junior team last month, is keen to help Letshanaa break into the world’s top 32 next year.
“Letshanaa should be aiming higher after this. My goal is to help her break into the world’s top 32 next year,” said Jeffer.
“I want to help her become more consistent, confident and make her game more stable.
“In higher level tournaments, it will be more difficult to sustain in matches as the opponents will be tougher to play against.
“I believe this is the challenge for her and she will need around three to four months to improve her fitness. All the other aspects of her game will become better once her fitness is good.”
Letshanaa will next compete in the Super 300 Syed Modi International from Nov 26-Dec 1 in Lucknow.
