Ratchanok defies injury to gor for title defend in Malaysia
With two Super Series title to defend and to avoid further slip down the rankings, world No 7 Ratchanok Intanon would roll her dice in the Malaysian Open this week despite having an ankle injury.
The former world No 1 returned to Bangkok on Saturday’s morning with a swollen right foot caused by a slip on court during the quarter-final match with Sung Ji-Hyun of South Korea in the Indian Open in the previous day.
The 20-year-old, last year’s winner of the Super Series in Sarawak and of the next week’s Singapore Open said she had to sit on a wheelchair after the match and underwent an MRI and several therapies in hope to recover as much as possible for these two weeks. Still she is not 100 per cent.
“The injury will affect my game but the condition is getting better compared to last Friday when I could barely walk. I’m not 100 per cent but there’s nothing to worry,” said Ratchanok who departed for Singapore yesterday and will play her first match tomorrow against Japanese Sayaka Sato.
“If I can’t defend my title, the ranking will drop. Now, players in the top 20 are all tough, not just the top 8 like in the past. So it depends on who has the better momentum can go up the rankings,” added the former world champion,
No matter what happens this fortnight, Ratchanok is still confident she can climb up the rankings later this year as she had just moderate results during that time last year.
“Admittedly I’m in a tough situation as I have to defend my titles for two straight weeks. But from mid year onwards I have no points to defend. That’s when I can improve my rankings again.”
