BATC: A test for Kisona

KUALA LUMPUR: The Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) 2022 will be a platform for S. Kisona to prove that she is back at her best as the country's top women's singles shuttler.

After facing numerous challenges in 2021, including inconsistent performance and catching COVID-19 twice, the 23-year-old will be going all out to make amends at BATC, which will be held at the Setia City Convention Centre near here from tomorrow till Sunday.

Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) singles coaching director Wong Choong Hann said Kisona, the 2019 SEA Games champion, has been showing good progress lately to regain her previous form.

"We did look into the areas to improve her physical condition, and she is quite good lately. She has been recuperating and also in terms of on-court training performance is very stable.

"So, just how much that means to transform into winning points, we need to test it out in BATC. It is a good platform even though we have second teams from Japan and India. But they are still strong opponents, so we want that opportunity (to test our players)," he told reporters during team training today.

Apart from the world number 64 Kisona, the other singles shuttlers in the squad are Eoon Qi Xuan (126), Siti Nurshuhaini Azman (309), Myisha Mohd Khairul (369) and Tan Zhing Yi (1,484).

Drawn in Group Y, the ladies will start their campaign against India tomorrow, before facing Japan on Wednesday. The top two teams in each group will advance to the semi-finals and earn tickets to the Uber Cup finals in Bangkok, Thailand.

In the absence of former world champion PV Sindhu (7) and former world number one Saina Nehwal (25), India will depend on youngsters Aakarshi Kashyap (56), Malvika Bansod (61) and Ashmita Chaliha (62), while Japan, who are resting their top six players, will be represented by the likes of Natsuki Nidaira (72) and Riko Gunji (181).

Choong Hann said the women shuttlers are working hard to improve their performance, and he hopes they can spring a surprise, after having advanced to the semi-finals during the previous edition in Manila.

Meanwhile, the country's top ranked women's doubles player Pearly Tan, 21, warned her teammates not to take the challenge lightly although Japan and India are not sending their best teams.

"Our target is to qualify for the Uber Cup, but we can't underestimate the opponents. We have to support each other, give courage and help each other to be highly motivated.

"As the first doubles, M. Thinaah and I will be focused on our own game plan regardless of our opponents. Every match is important; we hope to deliver points for the team," said the world number 15.

-- BERNAMA