KUALA LUMPUR: An injury-free Lim Yin Loo is ready for double duty in the badminton competition at the Myanmar SEA Games from Dec 9-14.
The 25-year-old Yin Loo is the only woman player in the badminton squad who will feature in two events at the biennial Games – doubles and mixed doubles.
She will partner Lee Meng Yean in the women’s doubles and Ong Jia Guo in the mixed doubles. 
She was teamed up with 19-year-old Meng Yean after her partnership with Goh Liu Ying was ended in August. Liu Ying decided to focus only on the mixed doubles as she did not want to risk getting injured.
Yin Loo and Liu Ying have done well to beat several higher-ranked pairs, including Danish world No. 4 Christinna Pedersen-Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Indonesia’s Meiliana Jauhari-Greysia Polii in the Hong Kong Open last year.
Yin Loo has also been playing quite well with Jian Guo in the mixed doubles since the start of this year, with their best achievement being a quarter-final appearance in the Indonesian Open in July.
Yin Loo admitted that she seemed to be doing better in the mixed doubles than in the women’s doubles.
“All my previous partners did not last long with me. My partnership with Liu Ying was probably the best but then it ended in August. Now, I have to start all over again with Meng Yean,” said Yin Loo.
“I need more time with Meng Yean. She is a junior player and needs time to develop her game. Sometimes, I run out of patience. I’m used to being a follower. My role has been reversed and now I have to guide her.
“My combination with Jian Guo is getting better in the mixed doubles but we have yet to achieve any outstanding results.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to make a mark at the SEA Games. It will surely boost our confidence and also give the coaches a good reason to keep us together for a longer time.”
Asked if she can cope playing in two events at the Games, Yin Loo said: “Fortunately, I’m injury-free. I have seen my good friends, like Liu Ying and Woon Khe Wei suffer because of injuries. I do not want to go through such pain … so, I’m very careful.
“I’m physically in good condition right now … so, playing in two events is not a problem. What is important is to give quality performances.”
Yin Loo will get an early taste of what to expect at the SEA Games when she competes in two events at the Macau Open next week. Yin Loo-Jian Guo are seeded fourth in the mixed doubles and drawn in the same half as top seeds Lee Chun Hei-Chau Hoi Wah of Hong Kong and sixth seeds Maneepong Jongjit-Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand.
Yin Loo-Meng Yean are unseeded in the women’s doubles and have a challenging first round match against Taiwan’s Cheng Wen-hsing-Hsieh Pei-chen.
