SHAH ALAM, Feb 13 — National women’s singles shuttler K. Letshanaa refused to think too much about the opponents’ rankings who may rank higher in Badminton World Federation (BWF), instead, she preferred to focus on showcasing her best performance at the 2024 Asia Team Badminton Championships (BATC) beginning today.
Ranked 56th in the world, Letshanaa said contributing valuable points for the country is her priority if selected by the coaching staff to compete in the biennial championship.
“Let’s not think about rankings because when you do, you feel stressed and pressured because if you are lowly-ranked you may feel like you are not good enough to compete in this tournament.
“When it comes to the court, it’s a player against a player. You compete against each other, not against the ranking or the level. When you do your best, you can cause an upset,” she told reporters at the Setia City Convention Centre, Shah Alam, yesterday.
Letshanaa, who is also the winner of the 2023 Uganda International Challenge, hopes to tame the drifts of the Setia City Convention Centre arena which require players’ agility to adjust to the environment.
Meanwhile, the women’s squad captain and national team player M. Thinaah refused to put any pressure on her teammates and hoped that all plans from the coaching staff would run smoothly on match day.
The women’s squad will feature Goh Jin Wei, Letshanaa, Wong Ling Ching, Siti Nurshuhaini Azman, Thinaah, Pearly Tan, Teoh Mei Xing, Go Pei Kee, Low Yeen Yuan, and Tan Zhing Yi.
Malaysia, drawn in Group Y, will face the United Arab Emirates (UAE) tomorrow (February 14) and Thailand on Thursday (February 15).
— Bernama
