Hard at work: Lim Chiew Sien training at the Pioneer Badminton Centre in Endah Parade yesterday. — ART CHEN/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Women’s doubles shuttler Lim Chiew Sien used to idolise Vivian Hoo when both were part of the national team.
In a week’s time, Chiew Sien will compete with Vivian one last time in the women’s doubles in the prestigious Malaysian Open in Bukit Jalil as the latter will be retiring from the sport after the tournament.
And the 30-year-old Chiew Sien is honoured to be Vivian’s partner on court for her swansong.
“Vivian is retiring after the Malaysian Open and I’m definitely very honoured to be her partner on court in her last tournament,” said Chiew Sien after a training session at the Pioneer Badminton Centre in Endah Parade yesterday.
“She has always been one of my idols since we used to train together in BAM (Badminton Association of Malaysia). I left BAM in 2020 while Vivian became independent a year later, so we have been playing together for about three years.
“Playing in front of the home fans will also be emotional for both of us, so I need to be prepared for that.”
Chiew Sien, who will also be playing in the mixed doubles with Wong Tien Ci in the home tourney, last competed with Vivian in the Indonesian Open in June before the 34-year-old suffered an injury and had to take some time to recover.
Chiew Sien knew that Vivian was planning to hang up her racquet and felt a bit lost at first but found a new lease of life in the mixed doubles with Tien Ci.
The pair, who initially combined in 2020, have shown good improvement this year after focusing more on the women’s and men’s doubles previously.
Tien Ci-Chiew Sien captured the Kazakhstan International Challenge in April and reached the semi-finals of the Malaysia Super 100 in October.
The duo will be making their first appearance together in a Super 1000 event at home after reaching a career high No. 34 in the world.
“Tien Ci and I initially combined in 2020 but our focus was more on the men’s and women’s doubles respectively and mixed doubles was not our priority,” said Chiew Sien.
“I always believed that our chemistry was not bad but we felt that mixed doubles was not our forte. We started to focus more on mixed doubles this year and things turned out better than we expected.
“This has breathed new life in my career as I’m getting older. Playing with Tien Ci has given me another opportunity to do well.
“I’m looking forward to playing with him in the Malaysian Open for the first time. I hope we can bring our best in front of the home crowd.”
Overall, it was a good year for Chiew Sien as she also exceeded expectations when she finished runners-up in the Australian Open with Lai Pei Jing in the women’s doubles.
She is open to playing with Pei Jing again sometimes but will be focusing more in the mixed doubles with Tien Ci.
For now, Chiew Sien-Pei Jing are in the reserves list for the Indonesian Masters from Jan 21-26.
