TheStar KUALA LUMPUR: World Championship-bound women's singles shuttler Wong Mew Choo caused a scare when she slipped on court during a training session at the Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara here yesterday. Coaches Li Mao and Wong Tat Meng rushed onto court and found that all was well with the 22-year-old Mew Choo, who was soon up on her feet to spar with two men. Mew Choo, who is ranked at number 68 in the world, is one of the two Malaysian women's singles players for world championships, to be held in Anaheim, California, from Aug 15-21. The other is world number 37 M. Sutheaswari. But she is not a member of the national team. Mew Choo said that she twisted her ankle during the training stint at the Genting Highlands last week. All the shuttlers in the national team for the world championships except Mohd Hafiz Hashim spent five days in Genting. “I twisted my ankle during a multi-shuttle drill. It was not serious and I put on a bandage and continued to train. Today, I slipped and there was a slight pain. But there is nothing to be worried about,” said Mew Choo yesterday. Mew Choo, who is having a roller-coaster ride on the comeback trail after an eight-month layoff to recover from a knee injury, is certainly not setting high targets in her second appearance in the world championships. She did well in the Sudirman Cup world mixed team championships in Beijing in May and helped Malaysia gain promotion to Division One. But in the recent back-to-back Singapore and Malaysian Opens, she failed to get past the first round of the qualifying tournament. “My world ranking is quite low. My performances in recent tournaments have also affected my confidence. I can bet on drawing a top seeded player in the first round (of the world championships),” lamented Mew Choo. Although the pain on the knee returns to trouble her at times, Mew Choo said that she did not have plans to take a complete break again after the world meet. “I am training and going through rehabilitation at the same time. It is pointless to take a long break. Look at me, it is so difficult to make a comeback. “For now, I like my training programme. It suits me fine,” she said. Mew Choo is certainly looking forward to defending her SEA Games title in Manila in December. The main contenders for the Games' gold medal are Singaporeans Li Li and Xing Aiying and Thailand's Salakjit Ponsana.
