Kelantan shuttler hoping to make Kuala Lumpur training list

KUCHING: It has been a worthwhile journey for 12-yearold Yeap Phoi Lin and her family who flew in from Kota Bharu, Kelantan to join the Astro Kem Badminton Kuching Selection Camp at Arena Sukan, Jalan Simpang Tiga here.

The SK (C) Chung Hua, Kota Bharu student arrived here on Thursday with her father Yeap Kok Oon and brother Yeap Ke Vin to make a last-ditch attempt to qualify for the Kuala Lumpur Intensive Camp in August.

Phoi Lin, who started playing badminton four years ago, had missed the second stop of the selection camp in Kelantan as she was competing in the Majlis Sukan Sekolah Malaysia (MSSM) Badminton Championship in Ayer Keroh, Melaka.

And it seems to be so far, so good for the youngster as she has qualified for today’s Step 2 and is on the right track of joining the list of 60 shuttlers for the Kuala Lumpur training camp.

“We have no alternative but to join the Kuching stop which is also the last of the six-stop Astro Kem Badminton.

“We flew into Kuching on Thursday because there is only one AirAsia direct flight to Kuching,” said the father.

In fact, his friends had encouraged him to come to Kuching and one even offered to sponsor the trip.

This is the second time that Phoi Lin is attending Astro Kem Badminton. She made it to Step 3 in Kuala Lumpur last year but failed to advance further.

The trip is also meaningful to Yeap because he and his children are reunited with his sister Elenawati Yeap-Leng after the latter married a Sarawakian and moved here 38 years ago.

“This is the first time in 38 years that my brother visited me after I settled down in Kuching,” said Elenawati.