National mixed doubles shuttler Toh Ee Wei’s knee injury forces coach Nova Widianto to adjust World Championships and Asian Games strategies.
INJURY to national mixed doubles number one Toh Ee Wei has disrupted head coach Nova Widianto’s plans for the 2026 World Championships and 2026 Asian Games campaigns.
Nova, however, said the situation is unavoidable and the team must be ready with alternative strategies to ensure Ee Wei’s partner, Chen Tang Jie, can still compete with other partners if needed.
“Of course, this situation affects our preparations as we are getting closer to the World Championships and the Asian Games.
“But in badminton, such situations are normal and as coaches we must be prepared with alternatives,” he told reporters after a training session here today.
Recently, the Badminton Association of Malaysia confirmed that Ee Wei suffered a partial tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee during the Singapore Open quarter-finals.
The World Championships will be held in New Delhi from Aug 17-23, while the Asian Games in Aichi–Nagoya, Japan, are scheduled from Sept 19 to Oct 4.
Nova said the team is still waiting to determine whether Ee Wei will require surgery following her injury.
The Indonesian coach added that Tang Jie will temporarily be paired with Clarissa San at the China Open in Jiangsu from July 21-26.
He said Clarissa was chosen as she has been the most oustanding junior player recently and will benefit from exposure at top-level tournaments.
Nova also admitted he has to speed up the assessment process for another new pairing, Jimmy Wong and Cheng Su Yin, who are now seen as one of the country’s key backups should Ee Wei require a long layoff.
However, Nova said the status of Jimmy-Su Yin is still not confirmed as he needs to evaluate their performances in upcoming tournaments, including the Australian Open in Sydney, which runs from today until Sunday.
Jimmy-Su Yin will begin their campaign in the Super 500 tournament against home pair Andika Ramadiansyah and Nozomi Shimizu.
