PETALING JAYA: Young women’s doubles pair Low Zi Yu–Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan must now brace for a bigger challenge as they are being groomed for a larger role in the future.
To ensure their continued progress, women's doubles head coach Rosman Razak plans to send them to more tournaments to help improve their world ranking and give them exposure at higher-level competitions.
Zi Yu–Noraqilah are currently ranked No. 143 in the world.
“Their performance has been good but the level is still far off. We have started planning to send them to more tournaments, at a higher level, so they can close the gap on the other pairs,” said Rosman.
Zi Yu–Noraqilah were the youngest players in the Uber Cup Finals in Horsens recently, aged just 15 and 18 respectively.
Despite their lack of experience, they still made an impression, delivering the winning point against Yasemen Bekstas–Zehra Erdem as Malaysia edged Turkiye 3-2 in their Group B opener.
Zi Yu was later paired with another youngster, Chong Jie Yu, and they went on to beat Elme De Villers–Anri Schoonees when Malaysia defeated South Africa 5-0.
But the biggest breakthrough for Zi Yu–Noraqilah came when they stunned world No. 7 pair Rin Iwanaga–Kie Nakanishi to delived the only point in Malaysia's 1-4 defeat to Japan in the final Group B tie.
Apart from Zi Yu–Noraqilah, Rosman is also ready to give other players similar opportunities, provided they show the same level of commitment.
After world No. 2 pair Pearly Tan–M. Thinaah and world No. 22 duo Carmen Ting–Ong Xin Yee, there is still a significant gap to the rest.
Jie Yu, who partners Vanessa Ng, is ranked No. 64, while Cheng Su Hui–Tan Zhing Yi are No. 69, followed by Amanda Yap–Ho Lo Ee at No. 85.
“Everyone has a chance. It is not just Zi Yu and Noraqilah. I have quite a number of junior pairs in my group. They need to compete and raise their level to match what is required on the world stage,” added Rosman.
