PETALING JAYA: Youngster Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan is showing steady improvement and growing maturity in both women and mixed doubles since moving up to the senior squad.
The 19-year-old came close to adding another title with Loo Bing Kun at last week’s Singapore International Series but fell to Indonesia’s Muhammad Al Farizi–Jessica Rismawardani in the final.
The result was an improvement on the week before, when she and Bing Kun were eliminated in the second round of the Singapore International Challenge by the same opponents.
For Noraqilah, competing at the Asia Team Championships in Qiangdao, China last month offered valuable experience, particularly against more senior and seasoned players.
“At first, I was nervous, but the feeling went away over time. For my partner and I, we consider ourselves a new pair, the underdogs, so there’s no pressure. We just focus on playing our game,” said Noraqilah, who won the Swedish Open with Bing Kun in January.
At the Asia meet, Noraqilah teamed up with Low Zi Yu in the women’s doubles as a last minute entry but made an impact by defeating China’s Luo Yi–Wang Tingge in the group stage, contributing valuable points for the national team.
Noraqilah said she did not partner Zi Yu in the two Singapore tournaments, as Zi Yu was scheduled to compete in two European junior events – the Dutch and German Junior Internationals.
