You can do it, Pei Tty tells female badminton players

KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 -- ‘There’s no place for women to do well’ was a phrase former national women’s doubles shuttler Wong Pei Tty constantly heard when she was a teenager.

However, instead of bringing her down, the harsh statement prompted her to prove people wrong about the way they perceived female badminton players back then.

Wong, 40, who joined the national team at the age of 13, said at that tender age, she decided to set the  benchmark for female Malaysian players.

“I think it all happened for a reason. There wasn’t any Malaysian women’s doubles player that I could look up to.

“I didn’t have any idols to catch up to but I loved playing badminton,” she said in an article published in the  Badminton World Federation (BWF) website today.

The article entitled "Setting an example for young girls" was released in conjunction with International Women’s Day today.

The three-time Olympian, along with her partner Chin Eei Hui, proved to be one of the best female badminton players for Malaysia and tasted great success, including winning gold at the Commonwealth Games,  SEA Games, and medals at the Asian Games as well as the World Championships.

Wong, who is also a former national women’s doubles coach, said after she hanged up her racket in 2012, she was determined to set an example to the young girls and women in the local team by foraying into coaching.

“The right attitude is very important. It’s not about prize money or global travel, but how hungry you need to be to get what you want is really important,” she said.

Nevertheless, she said things were better now, and attitudes had changed over the years with successful female players from Malaysia gracing the podium.

“There are a number of good female players now like Pearly Tan, M. Thinaah and many more. What’s vital is to encourage more and more female players into this great sport and this shouldn’t be limited to Malaysians, but female players all across the world,” she said .

-- BERNAMA