KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 — National women’s mixed doubles ace Toh Ee Wei isn’t too worried about the injury she has sustained, saying it’s part and parcel of being a professional athlete, as she gears up for next week’s Badminton Asia Championships (BAC).

“Our training intensity has been quite high for the two to three weeks. So, I felt a bit of strain in my abdomen. I think I’m about 70 per cent recovered.

“It’s quite common for athletes to have injuries. So, it’s how I overcome it that is most important. I’m used to injuries,” she said after a training session at Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) here today.

Ee Wei, who partners with Chen Tang Jie in mixed doubles, intends to take it one game at a time at the BAC, which will be held at the Ningbo Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium, Ningbo, China, from April 7-12.

Commenting on the draw for the championships, Ee Wei said they are more focused on their own performance rather than on their opponents.

“Yes, must focus on ourselves so that we can give our best on the court,” she said.

Asked about their target, she said they are taking a realistic approach by focusing on their first-round opponents, Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi of China, and not looking too far ahead.

Meanwhile, top national women’s doubles pair — Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah — can expect a torrid time if they were to come up against any of the pairs from China, South Korea or Japan.

National women’s doubles head coach Rosman Razak said Pearly-Thinaah are aware of the pressure they will face.

“Yes, as I said earlier, there is always pressure, and they are aware of it, but they intend to give it their best shot. They are motivated… every tournament they play in, they will face different kinds of challenges.

“I can only evaluate their performance when the tournament gets underway, because for now, everything looks to be going well. We are making a thorough preparation, and hopefully they will do well,” he said.

On their first-round clash against Hong Kong’s Fan Ka Yan-Yau Mau Ying, Rosman stressed that Pearly and Thinaah need to take a cautious approach and not underestimate their opponents.

“I think the draw is fair to everyone, and our girls should get past their Hong Kong opponents, but they must be wary. Pearly-Thinaah only need to focus on their own game,” he said.

Among the elite pairs that Pearly and Thinaah could come up against in the latter rounds are Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning and Zhang Shu Xian-Jia Yi Fan (China), Baek Ha Na-Lee So Hee (South Korea) and Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto (Japan). — Bernama