PETALING JAYA: With age on their side, Low Zi Yu and Dania Sofea Zaidi are the promising stars of Malaysian badminton for the future.
Zi Yu had made history at the World Junior Championship in Nanchang, China, last year by becoming the youngest ever finalist in the girls’ doubles at 14.
Zi Yu partnered Dania, who is 17, to finish second to Japan’s Ririna Hiramoto-Aya Tamaki.
And not many are aware the two naturally gifted talents first made their names on the Allianz Junior Badminton Championship (AJBC) before they got themselves noticed on the international arena.
Perhaps the duo would not have been able to shine if not for the initiative by Sean Wang (pic), the chief executive officer of Allianz Malaysia Berhad, to start the AJBC back in 2022.
“AJBC’s goal was to provide aspiring young shuttlers with a viable platform and access to age-level tournaments to allow them to gain valuable competition experience and gauge themselves amongst their peers.
“Our inspiration to start this junior tournament is to help the country’s badminton scene thrive and create a bigger pool of players who one day could become national players or a future world or Olympic champion.
“Zi Yu and Sofea have won our girls’ singles and doubles titles before they start becoming prominent on the international stage. We are happy to see several more players who have been managed to get into the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara, that has been the end product we desire to see.
“In fact, Zi Yu has reached the World Junior Championship girls’ doubles final twice (with Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan this year).
“And not many are aware that AJBC is the only junior badminton tournament where there are no entry fees charges, making it inclusive for all children regardless of background covering West and East Malaysia.
“Let’s say a kid from Kudat or Sarikei enters our regional tournament and ends up winning, then he is eligible to play in the Grand Final and we will sponsor the hotel accommodation and flight tickets for the kid and the accompanying guardian.
“All expenses are basically taken care of and we also give prize money so that they can use the incentives to equip themselves better.
“When I came up with the idea of AJBC, my personal goal was to ensure that the tournament is free, for example, parents with two or three children can enrol their children without any financial difficulties.
“I think this is a win-win situation for every Malaysian parent who aspires to see their son improve since they have chosen this sport as a career path.
“Everyone, regardless of whether they come from Kudat or Kuala Lumpur, should be given the platform to succeed,” stressed the 53-year-old.
The AJBC this year already expanded to 3,113 players to participate in the 10 rounds.
One hundred and eighty nine players qualified for the all-expenses paid Grand Finals. Selangor recorded the highest number of representatives in the just concluded Grand Finals with 32 players in total - 16 boys and 16 girls.
“We have certainly evolved from a few different aspects. We started out with seven qualifying rounds in 2022 and we have 10 this year.
“In 2023, we expanded AJBC to East Malaysia.
“Last year we introduced a new age group - Under-11, which featured two events - boys’ singles and girls’ singles.
“The Under-11 category is important as this is where we start to nurture badminton talent from the earliest competitive stages.
“We are happy to see 10 players from this year’s AJBC qualifying rounds selected to participate in the Talent Identification Programme organised by ABM. I believe we are doing the right thing to help nurture and discover the next big talent for Malaysian badminton,” said Sean.
And surprisingly, badminton is not Sean’s first love.
“I was into track and field activities. As a young boy, I had to follow my father to go on morning runs as he was a former endurance runner. That was how I developed my endurance and I took part in almost all track and field activities.
“I also played basketball a lot. Let’s just say I had a passion for sports and it’s only badminton that I started to take up later on in my life,” he added.
And what is his future aspiration?
“I hope to see AJBC produce more quality national junior players.
“Realistically, not everyone can be a Low Zi Yu so I also want players to also have fun and not be disappointed if they don’t make the cut. It is not the end of the world. There is still time as different players bloom at different age-groups. Thomas Cup winner Foo Kok Keong, in fact, only started performing in his late 20s.”
Under Sean’s leadership, Allianz Malaysia are now a proud sponsor of Badminton Association of Malaysia and the company logo appears prominently on the jerseys of the national shuttlers.
“As a badminton player, it gives me great pleasure to see young boys and girls from various places in Malaysia give their all in playing matches.
“For me, it’s not about winning or losing. It’s about your determination, your passion in creating success in something you like.
“Badminton, like any other sport, teaches discipline and teamwork. It is good to see these aspects drilled down into these young minds at an early age.”
