PETALING JAYA: Promising youngsters Datu Anif Isaac and Dania Sofea Zaidi hope to hit the ground running after officially joining the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).
Datu Anif-Dania, who are both 17, proved their talent when they captured the mixed doubles title in the National Under-18 Championships last May.
The pair were then selected for the Asian and World Junior Championships and reached the last eight in both tourneys.
Dania also showed her versatility when she captured silver in the girls’ doubles in the world meet with Low Zi Yu.
The duo also toppled several senior pairs to win gold in the Malaysia Games (Sukma) last August.
Dania and Anif are both thrilled to join BAM and aim to justify their selection.
“I received the offer letter from BAM last December. I’m excited to get to train with senior players and learn from them,” said Dania, who hails from Johor.
“I hope to improve my ranking to play in senior tournaments as soon as possible.
“I never expected to win silver in the World Juniors with Zi Yu as it was our first time playing in an international tournament.
‘‘We were very happy to reach the final.”
Anif, who is from Sabah, said: “Training in BAM so far has been tough but we need to work hard and go through this process to succeed.
“My aim this year is to win gold in both the World and Asian Junior meets.”
Meanwhile, Zi Yu, who will only turn 15 in August, will continue to train part time in BAM.
Dania will play in the girls’ and mixed doubles with Zi Yu and Anif respectively in the Dutch Junior International from Feb 26-March 2.
