PETALING JAYA: Chin Eei Hui is going for her fourth Olympic Games but as a coach for the second time.
Her goal, however, is still the same to guide world No. 7 mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying to another successful Olympics run.
Peng Soon-Liu Ying are the only Malaysian mixed doubles representative at the Tokyo Games, slated from July 23-Aug 8.
Eei Hui was Peng Soon-Liu Yings coach when the national No. 1 surprised everyone to win a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
This is my second Olympics as a coach and Im equally excited as before, said Eei Hui, who celebrated her 39th birthday last week (June 18).
Eei Hui and her former partner Wong Pei Tty competed in the womens doubles at the 2004 Athens Olympics and 2008 Beijing Olympics but they did not clear the early rounds.
Having taken up a challenging role as an independent coach at the start of this year, Eei Hui admitted that this years edition would be a different experience for all.
Its my hope that Peng Soon and Liu Ying will perform well in Tokyo. I hope they will show a good fighting spirit more than anything, said Eei Hui.
All the opponents in the mixed doubles field are tough… so you cannot rule anyone out, she said.
There are 16 pairs but the ones with chances to win are top seeds Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong of China, Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping; Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand; Indonesians Praveen Jordan-Melati Daeva, Hafiz Faizal-Gloria Emanuelle; Japans Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino; South Koreas Seo Seung-jae-Chae Yu-jung; Englands Marcus Ellis-Lauren Smith; Hong Kongs Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet and Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue of France.
On their training at the Academy Badminton Malaysia, Eei Hui said it had been solid.
The preparation has been good so far. Peng Soon-Liu Ying spar with Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing for the time being, added Eei Hui, who will leave for Tokyo with the team on July 17.