PETALING JAYA: The doors of the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) will always be open for teenager Low Zi Yu should she decide to leave Johor and train full-time with the national squad.
The 15-year-old Zi Yu is seen as one of Malaysia’s brightest young badminton prospects after helping the country clinch a silver medal in the girls’ doubles event with Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan at the World Junior Championships in India.
It was her second silver medal in the tournament after achieving the same feat last year with Dania Sofea Zaidi, making her the youngest Malaysian medallist in the competition at just 14.
National junior girls’ doubles coach Amelia Anscelly revealed that the national camp had invited Zi Yu to join several times, but she needed to remain under close family supervision due to her thyroid condition.
Zi Yu has been battling the illness since May last year, which limits her ability to train full-time.
Therefore, when she is not involved in assignments with the national team, Zi Yu will return to her home state of Johor to train with the Johor Badminton Association (JHBA).
“Our plan was for her to join ABM, but because of her thyroid condition, she prefers to be at home to recover.
“However, over the past few months, she has been at ABM as she had been busy competing in back-to-back tournaments.
“As for next year, we are still unsure if her father will allow her to join us at ABM, but the door will always remain open for her.
“We are really looking forward to having her. If she agrees to come in, we will definitely welcome her,” said Amelia.
Zi Yu has shown steady progress this year after being given the chance to compete in more international tournaments, including qualifying for the Macau Open, a Super 300 event.
This year alone, she has already captured two titles with Dania – the Dutch Junior International and the Slovakia Open.
Apart from excelling in the girls’ and mixed doubles, Zi Yu has also been given the opportunity to play in the women’s singles event.
