KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — National men's doubles ace Aaron Chia has been advised to focus on the full recovery of his recurring wrist injury ahead of the prestigious All-England badminton championships, which will begin in Birmingham, the United Kingdom, on Tuesday (March 11).
Former world number one men's singles shuttler Roslin Hashim said he understands that Chia is grappling with the injury after undergoing intensive training recently, and that the doubles ace requires sufficient rest period if he hopes to do well at the All-England.
"Usually, when a player suffers an injury and knows that he will be competing in back-to-back tournaments, the recovery period is of utmost importance.
"The player need not do much weight training and make sure he does not aggravate the injury. That is all one has to do,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.
Yesterday, Chia and his partner Soh Wooi Yik crashed out in the first round of the Orleans Masters in France after losing 18-21, 8-21 to China's Sun Wen Jun-Zhu Yi Jun.
The first-round defeat for Chia-Soh, the 2019 and 2024 All-England runners-up, has derailed their preparations for this year's edition.
Roslin believes that the coaches and the players themselves need to properly assess the injury and devise a different game plan.
"We know he (Aaron) is a back-court player. So, if he cannot cover the backcourt, then it will surely affect their game. We do not know the severity of his injury… perhaps, he felt some pain and did not want to take further risks at the Orleans Masters yesterday.
"Or perhaps the coaches have a different idea on how they should play after this (loss in Orleans Masters) considering the situation Aaron is in,” he said.
Besides Chia-Soh, the other Malaysian men's doubles pairs bound for the All-England are Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, and Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King, as well as the professional pairs of Goh Sze-Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi, and Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong.
— Bernama
