PETALING JAYA: Shuttler Dania Sofea Zaidi has credited partner Low Zi Yu for the pair’s rise in the girls’ doubles.
Dania, 17, and Zi Yu, 14, established themselves as one of the most promising doubles pairs in the country when they captured silver in the World Junior Championships last October and followed it up by winning their first title at the Dutch Junior Open last month.
Although still eligible to play in junior events, the talented Dania, who also plays in the mixed doubles with Datu Anif Isaac, has been fast tracked into the senior team in the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) this year while Zi Yu trains part time with the former at the national training centre.
The humble Dania believes Zi Yu deserves credit for the pair’s speedy progress.
“I have known Zi Yu since our days together in the Johor state team. She is younger than me but is more matured and powerful,” said Dania after a training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara.
“When I make mistakes and become frustrated on court, Zi Yu calms me down. She is also a good back court player and covers me well, allowing me to focus on my job at the front court. I’m thankful to have a partner like her supporting me.”
Dania has set her sights on capturing gold in both the Asian Junior Championships (July 18-27) in Solo, Indonesia, and World Junior meet (Oct 6-19) in Guwahati, Assam, with Zi Yu this year.
“My biggest target with Zi Yu this year is to win the Asian and world junior titles. Getting medals of any colour will be good too,” said Dania.
“Our chemistry is getting better after competing in a few tournaments but we need to keep working hard.”
Before the Asian meet, Dania will compete with both Zi Yu and Anif in the National Under-18 Championships from April 23-27 in Ipoh.
