PETALING JAYA: Shuttlers Ahmad Redzuan Zulwaqqarizal-Isyraf Hafizin Ibrahim are determined to bring home a medal from the World Junior Championships starting in Cairo on Tuesday.
The world No. 3 ranked junior pair have been putting in the work over the past few weeks and are hoping their preparations will pay off, although they are careful not to burden themselves with the pressure of chasing the title.
A medal would also put Malaysia’s boys’ doubles back on the podium after the squad missed out at last year’s edition in Guwahati.
Malaysia had won the title a year earlier in Nanchang through Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing, while Aaron also claimed bronze with Bryan Jeremy Goonting at the 2024 edition in Spokane.
"We will try our best to win the title and bring home a medal, but we don’t want to think too much about becoming champions because we don’t want to put too much pressure on ourselves.
"For now, our first target is to bring home a medal," said Redzuan.
Isyraf added: "I think we are in very good condition and we will do our best at the World Championships."
Redzuan and Isyraf are currently ranked world No. 3 in the junior boys’ doubles.
The Cairo outing will also offer them a chance to bounce back after they were knocked out in the third round of the Asian Junior Championships in Yatsushiro, Japan, in July despite being seeded second.
Redzuan-Isyraf were among 30 players and officials who left for Cairo early yesterday morning.
Meanwhile, national junior doubles coach Hazwan Jamaluddin believes the squad are much better prepared this time compared to the Asian Junior Championships.
The players have also had the chance to train and spar with the senior shuttlers, while receiving advice and guidance ahead of the tougher challenge in Cairo.
"I think our preparations this time have been good and are better than before the Asian Junior Championships because we made several changes to the partnerships," said Hazwan.
The team event will be played first and will use the revised relay scoring system, with each tie decided over the best of three sets and each set played to 55 points.
The individual championships from Oct 11-17 will continue to use the 3x15 scoring system used at the previous edition.
"One thing we want to see is their mental preparation because with the shorter scoring system, you cannot afford to slow down," said Hazwan.
You have to keep pushing, and we want to see whether they can handle the pressure."
