PETALING JAYA: Teenagers Lee Hong An and Dania Elisha Mohd Airul have achieved the impossible for Malaysian table tennis by becoming the first paddlers to win a medal on the world stage.
Hong An, 15 and Dania, 13, played their way to a bronze medal in the Under-15 mixed doubles event at the World Youth Championships in Romania.
The Malaysian debutants had hoped to smash their way into the final but found China's Yu Haiyang-Zhu Qihui 8-11, 11-9, 4-11, 8-11 too hot to handle on Friday.
The losing semi-finalists are assured though of the bronze medal and it's still an outstanding achievement as they will go on record as the first Malaysian players, whether senior or junior, to make the world podium.
Hong An and Dania got their campaign underway with a hard fought 14-16, 11-8, 11-2, 8-11, 15-13 win over Turkey-France pairing Kenan Kahraman-Alexia Nodin.
They then swept aside Germans Jonas Rinderer-Josephina Neumann 5-11, 11-6, 11-7-, 11-3 to reach the last eight stage.
Hong An-Dania did not let themselves be swallowed by the big occasion as they overcame Taiwan's Chen Kai-cheng-Lin Wan-rong 11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 6-11, 11-8 in the quarter-finals to etch their names in the history books.
It's a remarkable achievement indeed for Dania especially, as she only just picked up the sport four years ago.
The youngest paddler of the Malaysian team showed her talent by managing to reach the quarter-finals in the girls' doubles.
Dania partnered Cheah Yu Zheng, 15, to go down 11-7, 7-11, 3-11, 12-10, 5-11 to Germans Josephina Neumann-Koharu Itagaki in the last eight.
