PETALING JAYA: The Asian Championships, which will begin on Tuesday in Ningbo, China, is no stranger to Lim Chiew Sien, though this will be her first time competing in the mixed doubles category at this prestigious tournament.
Chiew Sien and her partner, Wong Tien Ci, will join three other Malaysian pairs, including third seeds Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie, Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin and Yap Roy King-Valeree Siow, in representing the country at the tournament.
Chiew Sien has previously made three appearances at this prestigious event, all in the women’s doubles.
Her best result came in 2019 in Wuhan, when she and Anna Cheong reached the second round before being knocked out by Thailand’s Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai.
Last year, she and Vivian Hoo were eliminated in the first round by South Korea’s Jeong Na-eun-Kim Hye-jeong.
As such, Chiew Sien is fully aware that this major tournament is no easy feat, especially for players with rankings like hers, who inevitably face tougher opponents in the early rounds.
“In terms of the draw, it’s definitely tough because everyone knows that badminton in Asia is incredibly strong, and all the countries have excellent players. Our approach remains the same, which is match by match, point by point and we will give our best performance, especially considering how hard we’ve trained,” said Chiew Sien, who is currently ranked 26th in the world alongside Tien Ci.
“Last year, we competed mostly in smaller tournaments, but now that our ranking has improved, we are able to compete in higher-tier events. For us, we take every tournament seriously, learning from each one.
“Of course, we hope to win, and if possible, to upset the seeded players.’’
Their first-round opponents are the Japanese pair, Yuichi Shimogami-Sayaka Hobara.
At first glance, the ranking gap seems to favour Chiew Sien-Tien Ci, with their opponents currently ranked 44th in the world.
However, the 30-year-old is fully aware that ranking alone is not a guarantee of success, as Chiew Sien remembers how they were upset by the same Japanese pair during the semi-finals of the Malaysia Super 100 in Kuala Lumpur last year.
“Our head-to-head record against the Japanese pair stands at 0-1, but we know that any Japanese pair is always a tough challenge. However, we don’t want to let that put pressure on ourselves.
‘’Instead, we will focus on our preparation and stick to our game plan when the match day arrives.
“For us, concentrating on our game plan without overthinking will help us secure the win,” she added.
