Yiwen-Ainaa believe their time has come

PETALING JAYA: Chan Yiwen and Noor Ainaa Amani Ampandi have long been waiting for international success – and their time could finally come at Asian Doubles Championships in Johor Baru form July 4-7.

Yiwen-Ainaa made their international debut in the women’s doubles at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games and turned out to be a revelation as they outplayed reigning world champions Joshna Chinappa-Dipika Pallikal of India in the quarter-finals.

However, they came home empty-handed when they went down to eventual champions Joelle King-Amanda Landers-Morphy of New Zealand in the semi-finals and lost the bronze medal playoff to compatriots Rachel Arnold-Aifa Azman.

Still, it was an outstanding result as Joshna-Dipika, who had won the women’s doubles gold at the 2014 Glasgow Games, had been the raging favourites.

Since the women’s doubles was not contested at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, 24-year-old Yiwen and Ainaa, 22, were not in the fray but they now have a genuine chance of fighting for gold at the Asian Doubles.

Standing in their way would be Aifa, 23, and her sister Aira, 20. There is also a possibility that the veteran combination of Joshna-Dipika might compete in Johor Baru.

“We do stand a chance but Aifa-Aira are also playing and they are also a strong pair. We also must watch out for pairs from India and Hong Kong as well,” said Yiwen.

“We are not sure which are the combinations from India as the draws are not out yet and we will be training hard for the event.”

In the final of the SEA Cup last week, the duo were battling each other with Ainaa securing the individual gold with a four-set victory in Manila.

Yiwen-Ainaa are close friends who have also played for Federal Territories have featured regularly in the Malaysia Games.

They managed a bronze medal in the 2022 Sukma in Kuala Lumpur while Aifa-Aira secured gold.

Now, Yiwen-Ainaa would want to see the roles reversed in Johor Baru.