PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s rising badminton star Low Zi Yu (pic) has reiterated that her heart remains with the doubles, despite giving a dazzling display in the singles event to help Johor claim the National Interstate Under-16 Championships.
The final yesterday saw Johor face Perak at Stadium Titiwangsa in Kuala Lumpur, with Zi Yu playing as the team’s first singles player.
Although she mostly competes in the girls’ and mixed doubles for national duty, the 15-year-old looked completely at ease in singles, defeating her opponent Balqis Safia Mohd Zain 21-14, 21-17.
Zi Yu, who only last month won a silver medal in the World Junior Championships in girls’ doubles alongside Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan, had already been playing singles for Johor in the tournament since the group stage.
Johor secured the girls’ team title through doubles pair N. Navina-S. Hasyni Devi, who defeated A. Baavanya-Yong Hui Teng 21-7, 21-11.
“I’m happy and proud to help Johor win this title. I’ve never won this championship before, so it means a lot to me.
“It’s quite challenging to switch from doubles to singles because I need to cover a much larger area on court. I’m more comfortable playing in doubles and honestly, I did feel some pressure as I had just competed in the World Junior Championships and now in this event. The expectations on me were quite high,” said Zi Yu.
The singles event is not unfamiliar to Zi Yu, as she has been fielded in that category in several international tournaments, including the Asian Junior Championships in Solo, Indonesia, in July, as well as the Malaysia Junior International Challenge in Perlis, the Austrian Open and the Slovenia Open. However, she did not produce any significant results in those outings.
Meanwhile, in the boys’ Under-16 category, Melaka made up for last year’s disappointment after edging out former champions Kedah 2-1 in a thrilling finale that lasted more than two hours.
In the boys’ Under-12 category, Selangor secured the title after defeating Pahang 2-0, while Kedah claimed the girls’ Under-12 crown with a 2-0 win over Selangor.
