PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Kong Wei Xiang believes Malaysia have assembled their strongest possible squad to bring home a medal from the Asian Junior Mixed Team Championships, which gets underway on Friday in Yatsushiro City, Kyushu.
Malaysia will head into this year’s tournament with a stronger-looking squad, featuring several players ranked among the world’s top juniors, as they seek to make amends for last year’s disappointing campaign in Surakarta, Indonesia.
Among them is Low Zi Yu, the world No. 1 in girl’s doubles, as well as Ahmad Redzuan Zulwaqqarizal in mixed doubles. Redzuan is also ranked No. 5 in the world in boys’ doubles, while Isrraf Hafizin Ibrahim sits at No. 6 and Irfan Shazmir at No. 9.
In the girls’ singles, world No. 11 Carine Tee is expected to lead Malaysia’s challenge.
As such, world No. 17 Wei Xiang believes Malaysia have every chance of achieving success in the mixed team event.
“I feel very confident about the Malaysian team, especially in the team event. I think our squad are strong, solid and balanced across all disciplines,” said Wei Xiang, who has been appointed team captain alongside Tan Xin Yu.
Malaysia will open their Group D campaign against last year’s runners-up Indonesia before taking on South Korea and Macau in their bid to secure a place in the quarter-finals.
At the same time, Wei Xiang is also carrying high hopes in the individual event, which will be held from July 1-5 immediately after the mixed team competition concludes on June 30.
As this will be his final year competing in the junior ranks, the Butterworth-born player is aiming to reach the final and challenge for the gold medal.
“This year, I will do my best to try and win the gold medal, and that is definitely my target. But I will take it one match at a time first. Looking at the draw, I think it is still quite favourable for me,” added Wei Xiang.
Wei Xiang will open his individual campaign against Uzbekistan’s Azizbek Lutfullaev in the first round as he looks to improve on last year’s second-round finish.
