Tough matches ahead
Junior shuttlers work hard for upcoming Zone A circuit
THE Kuala Lumpur junior shuttlers are in for a tougher time in their tussle for supremacy in the opening leg of the national junior Zone A circuit in Kangar, Perlis from Feb 8-12.
Kuala Lumpur Badminton Association (KLBA) coach A. Sankar admitted the northerners from Kedah and Penang are capable of ruining their aim to get off to a good start for the year.
“It will be hard to predict our players’ chances. But, they have to be on their toes to overcome stiff resistance from worthy opponents as early as the first round. They will need to be extremely fit physically and mentally in keeping their hopes alive.
“Besides gauging our own strength, the first leg zone tournament will provide an opportunity for us to evaluate the serious contenders from other states,” he added.
Six states — Kedah, Kelantan, Penang, Perak, Perlis and Kuala Lumpur — are joining the fray in the two-leg Zone A competitions.
Kuala Lumpur will be hosting the second leg from April 19 to 22 before the grand finals at Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur from June 20-24.
Although Kuala Lumpur have completed their two-day ranking exercise at the beginning of the year, they are still considering their options before naming their top eight entries in four age-groups: Under-12, Under-14, Under-16 and Under-18 for their outings at the national juniors.
“We have spotted promising talents from the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Association (KLBA) Junior Closed championships at the end of last year.
“The semi-finalists from each age-group took part in the recent assessment and several of them survived the test.
“For the national junior zone meet, we are only allowed to have a maximum of six representatives in the singles while we can field four pairs for the doubles. In each section, the top four leading players have secured their places and it will be tricky to fill the last two slots of eight members,” said Sankar.
Kuala Lumpur’s top ranked boys’ Under-12 shuttler Chia Wei Jie will be shouldering the responsibility in repeating his former doubles partner Leong Jun Hao’s domination in the age-group.
Last year, Wei Jie forged a successful partnership with Jun Hao in the boys’ Under-12 doubles at state and national levels.
Besides capturing the national junior grand prix finals and MSSM, Wei Jie-jun Hao were also champions and runners-up at the national junior circuit zone first and second legs respectively.
Sankar said Wei Jie would need to rise to the challenge in establishing himself as a frontrunner in the singles contest.
“Besides proving himself especially in the singles, he will need to adapt to the change combining with a different partner for the doubles,” he added.
Meanwhile, seasoned campaigners Loh Bao Ying and Tan Sueh Cheng will be leading the charge in the girls’ Under-14 and Under-18 respectively.
Last year, Bao Ying was the girls’ Under-14 singles winner in the opening zone leg before she settled for second at the following leg.
Based on the current strength of his side, Sankar said it was premature to set high expectation in chalking up a three in a row hat-trick at the national junior inter-state mixed team scheduled in Kedah from Sept 1923.
In recent years, Sankar has guided the city side to three previous victories in 2007, 2010 and 2011 in the team event.