TheStar PETALING JAYA: Women's singles shuttler Wong Mew Choo has a chance to break into the third round of the World Championships for the first time in Anaheim, California next week. But the unseeded Mew Choo is not thinking that far down the line yet. The 22-year-old from Perak will be just as happy to clear her first round hurdle against China-born Singaporean youngster Xing Aiying. Her Singaporean rival, only 16, has the potential to spring an upset. She is the currently the highest ranked Singaporean women's singles player at 17th. Their Manchester Commonwealth Games champion Li Li is ranked world No. 20. Aiying took her first international title in the US Open last year. Mew Choo, ranked 68th, said she certainly hopes to do well as she has been training hard for the event. World number 32 M. Sutheaswari is the other women's singles player who qualified for the world meet but she is not a member of the national squad. “I have been just gone through the rehabilitation phase after my injury. Although I have been training well, I do not want to put my hopes too high. “I will just try to clear the opening round first. I have not played her before and I do not think I will have it easy,” said Mew Choo, who rose to prominence after winning the Vietnam SEA Games gold medal two years ago. Mew Choo has a potential to reach the third round if she beats her Singaporean rival. She is expected to face Taiwan's Cheng Shao-chieh, whom she has yet to lose in two previous meetings. If she beats the Taiwanese again, Mew Choo will play China's eighth seed Zhou Mi in the third round. She made her World Championships debut in Birmingham two years ago and reached the second round before losing to then defending champion Gong Ruina of China. However, Mew Choo has a reason to take a cautious approach. She was beaten by another unknown Chinese born-Singaporean Gu Juan in the first round of qualifying for the Singapore Open. Mew Choo went through an eight-month layoff to recover from a knee injury after the Thomas Cup Finals in May last year and only started playing again this year. She did well in the Sudirman Cup world mixed team championships in Beijing in May and helped Malaysia's promotion to Division 1. Mew Choo also reached the third round of the All-England Open. However, she failed to make it to the main draw in the recent back-to-back Singapore and Malaysia Opens.
