KUALA LUMPUR: National women’s doubles head coach Rosman Razak gives Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan a 90 per cent chance of returning from injury for the Hong Kong Open on Nov 17-22.
Noraqilah injured her left ankle in training on Sept 10, less than a fortnight before the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
She travelled to Japan with the squad but missed the women’s team event, with Cheng Su Yin partnering Zi Yu in the quarter-final against South Korea.
Noraqilah was later cleared to partner Zi Yu in the individual women’s doubles, but they lost in the first round.
The 19-year-old has resumed full training, but Rosman believes this week’s Kumamoto Masters in Japan is too soon for her to reunite with Zi Yu.
“Kumamoto will be difficult, but her progress has been very good,” said Rosman.
Noraqilah will team up again with Zi Yu (they are ranked world No. 42) though Zi Yu won the world junior girls’ doubles title with Genevie Lim in Cairo last month.
Rosman said he wants Noraqilah-Zi Yu to push for a place in the world’s top 32 ahead of qualifying for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“Olympic qualifying points are at stake next year. They are already ranked in the world top 40s, so changing partners now would be risky,” he said.
“At their level, it is already very difficult to get into the top 32.”
For Zi Yu-Noraqilah, a higher ranking would also give them more opportunities to qualify for Super 750 and Super 1000 tournaments, where they can still find themselves on the reserve list.
“At the moment, they are sometimes on the waiting list. We want to push them into the draw.”