PETALING JAYA: Malaysia's youngest shuttler Low Zi Yu will be out to gain priceless experience when she gets her first taste of action as the women’s team take on Hong Kong for a place in the quarter-finals at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Sunday (Sept 20).
The 16-year-old Zi Yu will get the chance to strut her stuff alongside K. Letshanaa, Wong Ling Ching, Oo Shan Zi, Eng Ler Qi, Pearly Tan, M. Thinaah, Cheng Su Yin, Shevon Lai Jamie and Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium in Nagoya.
Malaysia and Hong Kong last crossed paths at the Asian Games in Guangzhou 16 years ago, with Malaysia winning 3-1 to reach the last eight.
With Zi Yu in the team, Malaysia head into the tie with a relatively young squad as they return to the women’s competition for the first time since Incheon 2014.
Letshanaa, Pearly-Thinaah and Shevon are the only players in the squad with previous Asian Games experience, while most of their teammates are under 22 with Zi Yu being the youngest.
Women’s singles head coach Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin hopes his players can play their part and contribute crucial points, just as they did at the Uber Cup in Horsens in April.
Malaysia reached the quarter-finals there for the first time in 16 years, and Iskandar believes his players have another opportunity to show their progress at the Asian Games.
"I think this is a good opportunity for them. Four years ago, our women’s singles were not doing too well, but we have improved in recent times and I hope they can take their chances here.
"We also brought two young players in Oo Shan Zi and Eng Ler Qi, who are both under 19, so I hope they can gain valuable experience from this tournament," said Iskandar.
Hong Kong, however, will present a different challenge this time, with the team now led by former Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) coaching director Wong Choong Hann.
He is joined by fellow Malaysians Tan Bin Shen, Jeremy Gan and Loh Wei Sheng in the coaching set-up.
Tse Ying Suet is also the only Hong Kong player from the 2010 team who is still competing at the Games.
She featured in women’s singles in Guangzhou but has since switched to doubles and could be fielded in the women’s doubles for the team event.
Hong Kong will also be looking to finally reach the quarter-finals after several unsuccessful attempts to get past the opening round, including their defeat by Taiwan at Hangzhou 2022.
