Show of supremacy: Dania Sofea Zaidi-Low Zi Yu beat Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan-Nur Aina Maisarah Hatta 21-17, 21-19 in an all-Malaysian final clash in Bratislava.
PETALING JAYA: Promising shuttlers Dania Sofea Zaidi-Low Zi Yu are shaping up nicely to take over the baton from stars Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah one day after capturing their first senior crown at the Slovak Open.
But first, the reigning girls Under-18 champions Dania-Zi Yu will be out to make their presence felt in the Asian Junior Championships from July 18-27 in Solo, Indonesia.
The 17-year-old Dania and Zi Yu, 14, came out on top over Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan-Nur Aina Maisarah Hatta 21-17, 21-19 in an all-Malaysian final clash in Bratislava on Saturday.
The duo have continued their fine progress after winning silver in the World Junior meet last October and claiming their first international title at the Dutch Junior in February.
Dania-Zi Yu look like Malaysia’s best bet to win gold in the Asian Junior meet and will be keen to maintain their form ahead of the tourney when they compete next in the Slovenian Open which starts on Wednesday in Maribor.
Meanwhile, it was also a good outing for Noraqilah, 17, and Nur Aina, 15, who managed to reach the final in their first international tournament together.
The duo showed that they could be a strong back-up pair for Malaysia in the Asian Junior meet.
There was also positives in the men’s doubles when Loh Ziheng-Tan Zhi Yang finished runners-up after narrowly losing 15-21, 21-12, 19-21 to Poland’s Adrian Krawczyk-Szymon Slepecki.
Junior doubles head coach Pang Cheh Chang was happy with his charges’ overall showing in the tournament but wants them to stay grounded ahead of tougher challenges ahead.
“For me, this is part of the process to develop the young players like Dania, Low, Aqilah, Aina, Ziheng, Zhi Yang to become more mature players,” said Cheh Chang.
“But the players should also understand that they need to learn to adapt their game and develop their own mentality in order to handle different situations and challenges in upcoming tournaments.”
FINAL RESULTS
(Malaysians unless stated)
Men’s singles: Charles Fouyn (Bel) bt Muh Kasra (Swe) 13-21, 21-9, 23-21.
Men’s doubles: Adrian Krawczyk-Szymon Slepecki (Pol) bt Loh Ziheng-Tan Zhi Yang 21-15, 12-21, 21-19.
Women’s singles: Aalisha Naik (Ind) bt Liao Jui-chi (Tpe) 25-23, 21-9.
Women’s doubles: Dania Sofea Zaidi-Low Zi Yu bt Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan-Nur Aina Maisarah Hatta 21-17, 21-19.
Mixed doubles: Mihajlo Tomic-Andjela Vitman (Ser) bt Chen Hung-ming-Chang Yun-jung (Tpe) 21-13, 21-8.
