The guiding light: Teoh Mei Xing (front) partnering Tan Zhing Yi at the Asia Team Championships in February.
PETALING JAYA: Leading a team full of youngsters in a big team tournament for the first time can be daunting but women’s doubles shuttler Teoh Mei Xing is up for the challenge.
The 27-year-old is the oldest member in Malaysia’s team for the Uber Cup Finals from April 27-May 5 in Chengdu.
With national No. 1 Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah not selected in the team this time to allow them to focus on their preparations for the Paris Olympics in July, the burden of responsibility is even more on Mei Xing to guide the younger players.
Mei Xing is likely to combine with 22-year-old Go Pei Kee in the tournament as regular partner Anna Cheong is also not in the team this time as she is recovering from a knee injury.
“I do feel that the burden of responsibility is on me to lead the team as I’m the most senior member and the other players are mostly youngsters,” said Mei Xing.
“I hope to do my best to lead the team and perform well on court. This is also a good motivation for me to try to be a better leader.”
Mei Xing and Pei Kee will be joined by 21-year-olds Tan Zhing Yi and Ho Lo Ee, and Chan Wen Tse, 19, in the doubles while the singles line-up consist of national No. 1 Goh Jin Wei, 24, K. Letshanaa, Wong Ling Ching, who are both 20, Siti Nurshuhaini Azman, 19 and Siti Zulaikha Azmi, 18.
Malaysia face a tough task against Thailand, Taiwan and Australia in Group B.
Expectations are low on the team as the last time Malaysia reached the last eight was in the 2010 edition at home in Kuala Lumpur.
Mei Xing, though, is not throwing in the towel just yet.
“Nothing is impossible. We need to believe that we can reach the quarter-finals,” said Mei Xing.
“We can’t afford to give up easily, then there’s no point even going for the tournament.
“We need to keep faith in ourselves and fight until the end.”
On the team’s preparations so far, Mei Xing said: “We started centralised training yesterday and everything is going well so far.
“Normally, singles and doubles players train during different times, so it’s good to have everyone together and I hope we can keep building our team spirit.”
