‘No pressure’ on juniors

COACH Kwan Yoke Meng is not setting high targets for any of the Malaysian juniors competing in the individual event of the

World Junior

Championships that started yesterday.

Reigning girls’ singles champion Goh Jin Wei

(pic), boys’ singles Lee Zii Jia and Leong Jun Hao all reached the third round of the competition after winning their second round matches respectively. They had all received first round byes.

Yoke Meng, who is Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) coach, however, does not want any of them to crumble under pressure.

“I don’t want to pressure the players with any expectation. These are the same players who did really well to help us reach the final of the mixed team event on Sunday.

“Reaching the semi-finals would be a huge bonus,” said Yoke Meng when contacted in Bilbao, Spain.

Last year, Jin Wei ended Malaysia’s dry spell when she defeated teammate Lee Ying Ying in the final in Peru.

It was Malaysia’s first individual title in four years, after winning the boys’ singles and doubles crown through Zulfadli Zulkiffli and Nelson Heg-Teo Ee Yi in 2011.

In yesterday’s second round, top seed Goh Jin Wei defeated Germany’s Miranda Wilson 21-9, 21-11 and will play Sweden’s Ella Soderstrom next. M. Thinaah was playing Indonesia’s Aurum Oktavia Winata in a late match yesterday.

In the boys’ singles, second seed Zii Jia saw off Germany’s Brian Holtschke 21-8, 21-8 and will face India’s M.Mithun in the third round, while Jun Hao defeated Georgia’s Grigol Nalgranyan 21-6, 21-5 and is up against Portugal’s Miguel Rocha today. By Fabian Peter