IT is rare to see the women’s doubles shuttlers Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty show their emotions on the court but yesterday, they jumped for joy and hugged each other after nailing their biggest career title.
The duo lived up to their top billing to take the Super Series Masters Finals women’s doubles title with a hard-fought 21-15, 22-20 victory over Indonesians Lilyana Natsir-Vita Marissa at the Likas Indoor Stadium in Kota Kinabalu yesterday.
It could have been an easy task for Eei Hui-Pei Tty to pick up the winners’ purse of US$42,000. But they made life difficult for themselves and trailed 14-19 in the second game.
But known for their tremendous fighting spirit and true grit, the world No. 2 pair showed nerves of steel to make a remarkable comeback to seal victory.
With the win yesterday, Eei Hui-Pei Tty capped their most successful year of their badminton careers. They had won the Danish Open and emerged as the runners-up in the French Open, China Open and reached the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open.
Pei Tty was happy that they succeeded in capitalising on the absence of the China pairs.
“It could have been different in the presence of the Chinese pairs. But in their absence, we knew the fight for the title was open and we stood a very good chance of winning it. We are glad that we took our chances well,” she said.
Pei Tty added that past, they would have panicked and cracked if they trailed in the crucial stages of a match.
“But not now. We have grown to be more steady in the crucial stages. We keep our emotions in check and we do not get rattled easily,” she said.
Pei Tty added that they had bridged the gap with the top pairs from China and South Korea.
“We know where we stand even though we won a major title today. We certainly have narrowed the gap but more work needs to be done to beat the top Chinese pairs consistently,” she said.
Although happy, Eei Hui said that she needed to improve on her physical condition if they are to keep up with the strong pairs in the world next season.
Eei Hui had lacked training as she had spent some time taking a break and going for rehabilitation on ankle and knee injuries.
“It has been a great year for us. But I know that I will have to work on my physical condition. I have to be fitter to complement Pei Tty better,” she said.
