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The Star
a day ago
- Sport
- The Star
Roslin urges junior shuttlers to salvage reputation at World Championships
PETALING JAYA: The national junior squad must use the upcoming World Junior Championships in Guwahati, India, in October as a platform to restore their dented reputation. Former world No. 1 Roslin Hashim believes it is crucial for the national junior squad to return with at least a bronze medal from the tournament to prevent the team's reputation from suffering further damage. Based on the mixed team event draw held on Friday, Malaysia, seeded third or fourth, were placed in Group F alongside Australia, Sri Lanka, Slovakia, and Vietnam. On paper, Malaysia should have no trouble advancing past the group stage, as only the top team from each group will move on to the quarter-finals. Looking for a repeat: Dania Sofea Zaidi-Low Zi Yu won the girls' doubles silver at last year's World Junior Championships. The real test begins at this stage, where Malaysia are likely to face tough opponents such as defending champions China, Indonesia, Thailand, India, and South Korea in the knockout rounds. As for the individual events, the draws for all categories will only be revealed after the mixed team event, which is scheduled to take place from Oct 6-11. 'I feel the national junior squad had around two months to prepare so that they could achieve a better result at last month's Asian Junior Championships,' said Roslin when contacted. 'We are considered one of the powerhouses, but if our juniors fail to win any medal in this edition, it would have serious implications as at this level we can already see which players have the potential to conquer the world in the future.' Any poor results recorded in Indonesia previously must be taken seriously, with all post-mortems conducted given due attention and followed by improvements, as it is crucial for the national junior squad to produce encouraging results in India. Roslin's concerns come in the wake of the national junior squad's disappointing campaign at the Asian Junior Championships in Surakarta last month. Malaysia returned empty-handed after the mixed team fell in the quarter-finals, while the individual events ended in greater disappointment with no representatives reaching the semi-finals. The country's best hopes, last year's World Junior Championships runners-up Dania Sofea Zaidi-Low Zi Yu, also fell short when their campaign ended in the quarter-finals. Last year's World Junior Championships in Nanchang saw Malaysia celebrating more than just the silver medal won by Dania-Zi Yu. The mixed team secured a bronze while the boys' doubles pair of Aaron Tai-Khang Khai Xing struck gold.
New Straits Times
26-07-2025
- Sport
- New Straits Times
James says junior shuttlers lack mental strength after BAJC flop
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia badminton may be riding high at senior level, proud lofty world rankings and all that, but disappointingly not so at junior level. So, what's wrong with the country's junior development after Malaysia failed to win a single medal at this week's Badminton Asia Junior Championships (BAJC) in Indonesia. Not a single podium finish in Solo, not even a bronze, never mind silver or gold. Malaysia's campaign came to an embarrassing end on Friday when all their remaining players were wiped out in the quarter-finals. Former national high-performance director Datuk James Selvaraj said the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) needs to strengthen the players mentally. "How many tournaments have the junior players participated in before the BAJC? It looked like some of them lacked experience compared to their Asian counterparts. "There's not much depth in the talent we have now, especially in the singles department. "We have to work with the material we have and improve the quality of talent coming through to the national level." At the BAJC, high hopes were placed on girls' doubles Dania Sofea Zaidi-Low Zi Yu — silver medallists at the last World Junior Championships — but they fell 21-19, 21-12 to China's Cao Zi Han-Chen Fan Shu Tian. Mixed doubles Loh Ziheng-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan lost 21-18, 21-12 to Indonesia's Ikhsan Lintang Pramudya-Rinjani Kwinara Nastine, while Datu Anif Isaac Datu Asrah-Dania Sofea were beaten 21-23, 21-7, 21-13 by China's Chen Jun Ting-Cao Zi Han. Malaysia had also exited the mixed team quarter-finals earlier in the tournament, ending their campaign without a medal. Malaysia last won the BAJC mixed team title in 2009 in Kuala Lumpur. The last Malaysian to win the boys' singles title was Leong Jun Hao in 2017. "These players are surely disappointed with their results, and some may even fear being dropped from the team," said James. "The coaches need to help them bounce back mentally. The players also need to watch and analyse their matches — they must learn from their mistakes. "They should also observe how other players, especially the seniors, play and learn from them. "These young players need competitions to gauge whether they are improving. Training alone won't be enough — they need competitions to push their abilities."
The Star
25-07-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Junior shuttlers end up empty-handed at Asian Championships
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia endured a disappointing campaign in the Asian Junior Championships after the shuttlers failed to win any medals. Dania Sofea Zaidi-Low Zi Yu, who were the country's best hope for a medal, could not get past China's Cao Zihan-Chen Fan Shutian in the girls' doubles quarter-finals, losing 19-21, 12-21 in Solo, Indonesia yesterday. The defeat was a bitter pill to swallow for Dania-Zi Yu, who captured silver in the World Junior Championships last year and have emerged as one of the most promising doubles pairs in the country. It was also heartbreak in the mixed doubles for Dania and Datu Anif Isaac and Loh Ziheng-Nuraqilah Maisarah Ramdan. Anif-Dania were on course for a win over China's Chen Junting-Zihan after narrowly winning the first game 23-21 but could not maintain their form and lost 7-21, 13-21 in the next two games. Earlier, Malaysian Junior International Challenge champions Ziheng-Nuraqilah also could not raise their game against Indonesia's Ikhsan Pramudya-Rinjani Nastine and suffered an 18-21, 12-21 defeat in 39 minutes. The defeats were especially painful as reaching the last four will have guaranteed at least a bronze. The shuttlers also missed out on a medal in the mixed team event after losing to eventual champions China in the quarter-finals. The poor outing was a far cry from last year's edition where Malaysia won a silver through Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing (boys' doubles), and three bronzes through Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting (girls' doubles) Siti Zulaikha Azmi (girls' singles) and the mixed team. The junior coaches have to urgently raise the standards of their charges before the World Junior Championships from Oct 6-19 in Guwahati, India. RESULTS ( Malaysians only ) Quarter-finals Girls' doubles: Cao Zihan-Chen Fan Shutian (Chn) bt Dania Sofea Zaidi-Low Zi Yu 21-19, 21-12. Mixed doubles: Chen Junting-Cao Zihan (Chn) bt Datu Anif Isaac-Dania Sofea Zaidi 21-23, 21-7, 21-13; Ikhsan Pramudya-Rinjani Nastine (Ina) bt Loh Ziheng-Nuraqilah Maisarah Ramdan 21-18, 21-12.
New Straits Times
25-07-2025
- Sport
- New Straits Times
No medals, all out: Badminton squad flop at Asian Juniors
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's challenge in the individual competition at the Badminton Asia Junior Championships (BAJC) came to an end on Friday after all remaining players were knocked out in the quarter-finals in Solo, Indonesia. High hopes had been placed on girls' doubles pair Dania Sofea Zaidi-Low Zi Yu — silver medallists at the last World Junior Championships — but they fell 21-19, 21-12 to China's Cao Zi Han-Chen Fan Shu Tian in 42 minutes. There was also disappointment in the mixed doubles as both Malaysian pairs crashed out. Loh Ziheng-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan lost 21-18, 21-12 to Indonesia's Ikhsan Lintang Pramudya-Rinjani Kwinara Nastine, while Datu Anif Isaac Datu Asrah-Dania Sofea were beaten 21-23, 21-7, 21-13 by China's Chen Jun Ting-Cao Zi Han. Malaysia had also exited in the mixed team quarter-finals earlier in the tournament, meaning they end their campaign without a medal. — BERNAMA
Barnama
25-07-2025
- Sport
- Barnama
2025 Asia Junior: Malaysia's Challenge Ends In Quarter-Finals
KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 (Bernama) — Malaysia's challenge in the individual competition of the Badminton Asia Junior Championships 2025 ended today when all the country's representatives were knocked out in the quarter-finals in Solo, Indonesia. High hopes were pinned on the last edition's world junior championship runner-up, women's doubles Dania Sofea Zaidi-Low Zi Yu, but they lost to the Chinese pair, Cao Zi Han-Chen Fan Shu Tian, 19-21, 12-21 in 42 minutes. It was the first meeting between the two pairs.
