Kuala Lumpur: The World No. 15 women’s doubles player – Thinaah Muralitharan believed that the Malaysian women’s team could spring a surprise at the 2022 Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) which will be held at the Setia City Convention Centre in Shah Alam, Malaysia from Feb 15 to Feb 20, 2022.
Muralitharan and her partner – Pearly Tan last competed at the 2021 BWF World Championships, but lost to World No. 49 Ng Tsz Yau/Yuen Sin Ying of Hong Kong 21-10, 12-21, 11-21 in the second round. She said that Malaysia has strong chances of achieving better results than two years ago in the Philippines because, in addition to the withdrawal of two strong women’s squads – Thailand and Taiwan from the tournament due to concerns over COVID-19, most of the countries competing at the 2022 BATC only sent their second-tier players.
In the 2020 edition, the Malaysian women’s team gave the eventual champions – Japan a strong fight in the group stage, where Soniia Cheah was able to beat Akane Yamaguchi 21-16, 13-21, 21-18 and Kisona Selvaduray overcame Aya Ohori 21-14, 21-13 in a 2-3 loss to Japan.
However, when the two teams met again in the semi-finals in 2020, Malaysia went down to Japan 3-0. But the semi-finals appearance automatically confirmed tickets for Malaysia to the Uber Cup finals.
“I’m actually quite excited to start the season with a team tournament. Besides, the Malaysian spectators will definitely provide extra motivation to the players,” said Muralitharan who won the 2021 Swiss Open with Pearly Tan.
“The most important thing is we keep our focus and play one match at a time. I hope this tournament will give us a good start to the 2022 season,” added Muralitharan.
In this year’s competition, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) has sent five players in the women’s singles category, including Eoon Qi Xuan, Kisona, Tan Zhing Yi, Siti Nurshuhaini Azman, and Myisha Mohd Khairul.
Meanwhile, Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan, Teoh Mei Xing/Anna Cheong, Valeree Siow/Low Yeen Yuan, and Go Pei Kee will be playing in the women’s doubles category.
After Lee Meng Yean left BAM a few days before the 2022 Chinese New Year, Muralitharan and Tan are now the most senior women’s doubles in the Malaysian national team.
“A lot of people have told us that we are now the most senior women’s doubles pair in BAM now, but in reality, we feel like there is still a lot to learn,” continued Muralitharan.
“We will share whatever we know with our teammates. The pressure is definitely there but it’s all about how you handle it,” explained Muralitharan.
