PETALING JAYA: Playing in both the women’s and mixed doubles can be quite demanding for Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan but she is looking at the plus side of it.
The 18-year-old featured in both the events at the recent Australian Open with mixed results.
Noraqilah and Loo Bing Kun bowed out in the second round of the mixed doubles after losing to eventual champions Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping of China.
She managed to reach the quarter-finals in the women’s doubles with Low Zi Yu, where they were stopped by Indonesia’s Febriana Kusuma-Meilysa Puspitasari.
Despite the early exit with Bing Kun, Noraqilah values the experience and believes that playing in the mixed doubles has improved her speed on court.
‘’It’s challenging as you have to be a bit quicker as you’re also facing a male opponent on the other side.
“That improves my speed and can only make me better in the women’s doubles,’’ said Noraqilah.
She added that the demanding schedule would not be a hindrance to her goal of breaking into the world’s top 50 rankings with Zi Yu. The duo are currently ranked world No. 56.
‘’We are focused on breaking into the top 50 but we’re not putting too much pressure on ourselves,” said Noraqilah.
“I’m making good use of my experience in the mixed doubles as that will help me in achieving that goal.’’
