Rio Olympic Games silver medallists Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying are grateful to have their sponsors stand by their side, especially during these trying times.

As independent players, making ends meet can be tough without any tournaments.

Peng Soon-Liu Ying have not seen international action since the All England in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Following the recent postponement of the Asian leg of the World Tour, the World No 7 will only go full swing next year.

“As independent players, we are definitely affected as we do not have a monthly salary.

“We only have our sponsors to rely on.

“To make things worse, we can’t source for new sponsors if we don’t go out and play.

“It surely is challenging because we also have to think about our health and safety,” said Peng Soon, after playing in two exhibition matches as part of the Huawei Watch Fit Badminton Championships, yesterday.

The 32-year-old added that their sponsors have not cut back on any deals yet.

Peng Soon, also disclosed that it was not worth travelling abroad, as the cost will be too much to bear.

“Our incomes are definitely affected. We had already registered ourselves for the Asian leg, but now that it is postponed we will just wait until January to play in tournaments.