KUALA LUMPUR: National singles coach Rashid Sidek feels he may have to raise the white flag on Malaysia’s chances of winning gold in the women’s singles event at the Laos SEA Games in December following another injury to Wong Mew Choo.

Rashid yesterday confirmed that Mew Choo had withdrawn from the Denmark Open, which begins in Odense on Wednesday, with a fractured toe.

Mew Choo has skipped training since returning from the Japan Open two weeks ago after injuring her toe and has yet to recover.

Prior to that, the national number one had also been bugged by a nagging knee injury.

Mew Choo, the 2003 Vietnam SEA Games gold medallist, is Malaysia’s biggest hope in the women’s singles challenge because the others – Lydia Cheah, Tee Jin Yi and Sannatasah Saniru – are either inconsistent or inexperienced.

Rashid said although Mew Choo would be back on her feet ahead of the Laos Games, her condition would be doubtful.

“The injury is not serious but she has to do light training at the moment. We are hoping that she will be able to go for the China and Hong Kong Opens next month,” said Rashid.

“We will be able to see where she stands then.

“Mew Choo always gives her all but there is no guarantee she will be at her best at the Laos SEA Games.”

With the uncertainty surrounding the women’s singles department, Rashid prefers not to set any targets at the SEA Games.

“I have to be realistic. Without a top-form Mew Choo, it will be difficult for us to challenge for honours there. The others are not up to the mark yet,” said Rashid.

“Lydia is still very inconsistent and youngster Jing Yi has not proven herself yet.

“We also do not have Julia (Wong). She is currently back in training but doing light skills and, if all goes well, she will only be ready for competition probably next year.

“For now, our women’s singles department looks very vulnerable. But let’s hope that one of these players will prove me wrong at the SEA Games.”

For the record, in Laos, Indonesia will be banking on Maria Kristin Yulianto, Maria Febe Kusumastuti and Firdasari Adrianti Fransisca while Thailand will count on Salakjit Ponsana and Porntip Buranaprasertsuk. Singapore’s trumpcards are China-born Zhang Beiwen and Xing Aiying.

MALAYSIA’s hope to see a great comeback from Wong Mew Choo went up in smoke at the World Cham­­pionships in Hyderabad yesterday.

The national women’s singles No. 1 was beaten 21-18, 12-21, 21-23 at the Gachibowli Stadium by Japanese Ai Goto in a 55-minute second round match in which fitness failed her.

Malaysia’s challenge in the women’s singles event ended with the defeat.

Distraught: Malaysian coach Misbun Sidek trying to console Wong Mew Choo after the shuttler’s defeat by Japan’s Ai Goto in the second round of the World Badminton Championships at the Gachibowli Stadium in Hyderabad Wednesday. — S.S. KANESAN / The Star

Lydia Cheah crashed out in the opening round on Tuesday.

Yesterday, Mew Choo sparked off hopes of a quick win when she played superbly to beat the pint-sized Japanese in the first game. But she ran out of battery in the second game and gave up easily.

“I just could not take her rally game at that stage. She was punishing me and taking me to the front and back of the court,” said Mew Choo.

“I was really tired. I made mistakes and that frustrated me even more. Then in the decider, she took a comfortable 17-11 lead.

“I told myself that I had worked so hard in training and I was not about to give up. I was tired but I pushed myself and fought for every point.”

Mew Choo managed to overtake Goto at 18-17 but failed to press home at the crucial stages.

Mew Choo was disappointed that she could not produce the same form that resulted in a great comeback to beat Xie Xingfang of China en route to reaching the quarter-finals of the championships for the first time in Kuala Lumpur two years ago.

“It’s disappointing but this is not the end of me. I know I can still improve,” said Mew Choo, who will take part in the Macau Open next month.

Although the world No. 1 women’s pair of Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty defeated Sweden’s Emelie Len­nartsson-Emma Wengberg 21-13, 21-11 to reach the third round, it was not an impressive win.

“We took it easy in this first game and did not play that aggressively.

“We were saving our energy for tomorrow,” said Eei Hui of their next match against Japanese Miyuki Maeda-Satoko Suetsuna, who were the semi-finalists at the Beijing Olym­pics last year.

“The last time we played against them was two years ago. They certainly have improved but we will be ready for them.”

KUALA LUMPUR: Hong Kong’s feared women’s singles shuttler Zhou Mi loves to toy with her opponents on court.

But Malaysia’s Wong Mew Choo does not plan to become one of Zhou Mi’s ‘play things’ in the World Championships, which will begin in Hyderabad, India, from Aug 10-16.

Miss no-nonsense: Wong Mew Choo is focused on the World Championships.

Barring any major upsets or injuries, Mew Choo is expected take on the world No. 1 and top seed Zhou Mi in the women’s singles third round of the world meet.

Mew Choo will face American Shannon Pohl in the opening round and probably Japan’s Ai Goto in the second round.

Having lost twice to Zhou Mi, the 26-year-old Mew Choo admits that it would be a tall order for any player coming up against China’s former top national star.

“Her skills are amazing. She likes to toy with her opponents and break their rhythm of play,” said Mew Choo.

“In one of the tournaments, she took a 14-0 lead against me. It almost broke my resolve.

“Many do not like to play against her. She can retrieve any kinds of shots. She may be much older than most of the players but she certainly can make life difficult for us.”

Mew Choo’s only hope is to go all out against Zhou Mi if their paths cross in India.

“I will not take my early round matches easy. I may face Ai Goto in the second round. I have not played against her but the Japanese are runners and I will be wary of her,” she said.

“It will be great if I can set up a meeting with Zhou Mi. The odds are against me but it does not matter whether I win or lose ... the most important thing is to fight all out.”

The others in the same draw with the 30-year-old Zhou Mi and Mew Choo are China’s Xie Xingfang and Wang Yihan.

In the lower half of the draw with Wang Lin of China is compatriot Lu Lan, Hong Kong’s Wang Chen and Yip Pui Yin, Denmark’s Tine Rasmussen and India’s Saina Nehwal. The participation of Indonesian Open champion Saina, however, is in doubt after the former contracted chicken pox last week.

Mew Choo said she hoped that her injuries would not derail her hopes of achieving another memorable outing in the world meet.

At the world meet in Malaysia in 2007, Mew Choo stunned Xingfang to reach the quarter-finals. In the same year, she went on to beat several of China’s top guns to win the China Open.

“I was quite confident with my game at one point and now I am re-building myself to become a better player.

“I am glad that my injuries (both knees) are under control,” she said.

MALAYSIA can hope for more than one title in the Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold championships, which begin today at the Ban­daraya Stadium here.

Elite shuttlers Lee Chong Wei, Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty and Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong are in good form. But it will be more meaningful if the top national women’s singles shuttler, Wong Mew Choo, emerges as one of the winners on Sunday.

Mew Choo, who is coming out of injuries, has been lying low while the other Malaysians have had their share of taking the limelight.

In the Indonesia Open last week, Chong Wei and Eei Hui-Pei Tty lived up to their status as world No. 1s to win the men’s singles and women’s doubles titles respectively.

And although the men’s pair of Kien Keat-Boon Heong have not won any title since their success at the Swiss Open in March, they have been showing steady improvement. In the Indonesia Open, they gave a good fight against China’s Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng before bowing out in the semi-finals.

National singles coach Misbun Sidek hopes to see Mew Choo soaring high again after having struggled to regain her form.

“It is never easy to make a comeback from injuries. Mew Choo is going through that phase but she is a fighter,” said Misbun.

“She gave good performances at the Sudirman Cup (in May at Guangzhou) but found the going tough in the last two Super Series tournaments (suffering first-round defeats in Singapore and Indonesia). In fact, she has not won any major titles since her spectacular victory in the 2007 China Open.

“Mew Choo’s career in badminton may last until the Asian Games (in Guangzhou) next year. Her time is limited and I hope that she will come good here.

“If she does well, she will certainly feel good about herself ahead of the world championships (in India from Aug 10-16).”

Barring any upsets, the fourth seeded Mew Choo is expected to meet Indonesia Open champion Saina Nehwal of India in the quarter-finals.

“Saina has achieved what Mew Choo did two years ago,” said Misbun.

“She has beaten several top players from China. I hope a match between Mew Choo and Saina will materialise here ... it will be interesting to see how they fare against each other.”

Besides Saina, the other top contenders for the title are top seed Pi Hongyan and third seed Zhu Lin of China.

On Chong Wei’s challenge, Misbun said: “He has been coping well thus far. Many juniors will be out to get him here and it will be another challenge for him to justify his top billing in the tournament.”

Barring any upsets, Chong Wei is drawn to play against Indonesian Taufik Hidayat, who he beat to win the Indonesia Open title last Sunday.

With the top players from China, South Korea and Indonesia skipping the tournament, there is a good opportunity for Kien Keat-Boon Heong and Eei Hui-Pei Tty to nail their second Open title this year.

KUALA LUMPUR: Shuttler Wong Mew Choo is going through a most difficult period of her badminton career as recurrent injuries continue to haunt her.

But the national number one does not intend to throw in the towel and will work on regaining full fitness. Mew Choo will skip the National Grand Prix Finals in Alor Star next week to allow her injuries to heal.

Mew Choo is not only carrying knee injuries but also has pain in her heels.

“I intend to resume stem cell injection treatment on my knees. I stopped doing it because of my preparation for the Beijing Olympics as I needed to undergo intensive training,” she said yesterday.

Mew Choo: "I will continue playing unless I am told I can no longer carry on".

“But now that the season is ending and I did not qualify for the Super Series Masters Finals, I want to use this period to undergo treatment. It’s better for me to skip the National Grand Prix Finals as well.”

The 25-year-old has struggled to regain her form since making the country proud with her breakthrough win in the China Open last year.

If Mew Choo were to start the stem cell treatment, she will need to go for inoculations on a frequency depending on her recovery rate.

Mew Choo has suffered a string of early round exits in Super Series tournaments and only had semi-final appearances in the Malaysia and Singapore Opens to show for this year.

“I am frustrated with my results and at times, I also doubt myself. How can I be dishing out rubbish like these? I felt sorry for the people who have placed hopes in me,” she said.

“Although I reached the last eight in the Olympics (last August), I felt empty inside because I did not achieve my target to win a medal. Injuries prevented me from playing to my full ability in the Beijing Games.”

Mew Choo appreciates the Badminton Association of Malaysia’s (BAM) concern over her plight.

“They want to help adjust my training programme to make it easier on me. It’s good as my current problem is how to recover my fitness,” she said.

“Because of my injuries, I am missing my touch and stumbling in footwork. It does not help that I have to go for back-to-back tournaments to defend my world rankings.

“And when I am injured, it’s a tall order for me to cope. Sometimes, it hurts until I have to stop training.

“But as long as there are options for me to get myself fit again, I will continue playing unless I am told I can no longer carry on.”

Mew Choo is currently ranked 10th in the world and she missed out on the Super Series Masters Finals in Kota Kinabalu from Dec 18-21 by just one rung — finishing the season in ninth place.

KUALA LUMPUR: Wong Mew Choo’s (pic) misery in international tournaments continued when she crashed out in the first round of the Hong Kong Open yesterday.

The Malaysian number one went down 15-21, 11-21 to world champion Zhu Lin of China.

With the defeat, Mew Choo can forget about competing in the Super Series Masters Finals in Kota Kinabalu from Dec 18-21.

She now tied in 10th spot with Xu Huaiwen of Germany in the Series standing. Only the top eight players after the 12th leg and final leg of the Series in Hong Kong qualify for the Finals.

Julia Wong, Malaysian’s other competitor in the women’s singles, made it to the second round with a 21-16, 21-18 win over Ai Goto of Japan and she will take on second seed Zhou Mi of Hong Kong.

It will all quiet for Malaysia in the second round of the men’s singles event today. None made it past the opening round yesterday.

Malaysia’s best bet and top seed Lee Chong Wei withdrew from the tournament because of a knee injury while two others — Wong Choong Hann and Chong Wei Feng — crashed out 21-12, 10-21, 15-21 to South Korean Hong Ji-hoon and 9-21. 15-21 to Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia respectively.

Malaysia, however, showed that they are on track to challenge for honours in the men’s doubles when seven pairs, led by Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong marched into the second round. Kien Keat-Boon Heong should get past Englishmen Chris Adcock-Robert Blair today.

The others who advanced were Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah, Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari, Lim Khim Wah-Chan Peng Soon, Mohd Razif Abdul Latif-Tan Wee Kiong, Ong Soon Hock-Hoon Thien How and Chan Chong Ming-Chew Choon Eng.

Tan Fook-Wan Wah are expected to face the toughest test against top seeds and Olympic champions Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia while Zakry-Fairuzizuan will take on younger compatriots Khim Wah-Peng Soon.

South Koreans Cho Gun-woo-Yoo Yeon-seong and Jung Jae-sung-Lee Yong-dae stand in the way of Razif-Wee Kiong and Thien How-Soon Hock respectively in second-round matches today.