Sports

Tuesday April 14, 2009

Iskandar: Newcomers will keep us motivated

KUALA LUMPUR: Top national junior boys’ singles shuttler Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin (pic) welcomes the presence of two newcomers in the centralised training for the Asian Junior Championships.

Iskandar now also gets to trains with Selangor shuttlers Misbun Ramdan Mohd Misbun and Zulfadli Zulkifli at the Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara under Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) chief coach Sun Chenhua.

Ramdan and Zulfadli, who emerged as the Under-18 and Under-16 champions respectively in the last two legs of the 100Plus national junior circuit in Kedah and Perak, were invited by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) to participate in the first stage of centralised training.

The Asian Juniors will be held in India from July 12-19 and Malaysia are hoping to have their first boys’ singles champion in the annual championships.

The 18-year-old Iskandar said that both Ramdan and Zulfadli were coping well since joining the team on Monday. And the duo have been given two weeks to impress the coach.

“They are showing great commitment in training. There is quality in sparring sessions with them. Their presence certainly keeps us (shuttlers from the BJSS) on our toes,” said Zulkarnain.

The other BJSS players in training are Mohd Syawal Mohd Ismail, Lim Yu Sheng, Loh Wei Sheng, Jonathan Lee, Wing Kin Yik and Tew Gee Chong.

Iskandar, who did the country proud by winning the Dutch and German junior championships last month, however, is looking forward to ending his junior career on a high note. Besides the Asian Juniors, he can look forward to competing in the world junior championships, which will be held in Alor Setar from Oct 23-Nov 1.

“I am quite satisfied with my achievements thus far this year. The two junior international titles I won have given me a lot of confidence,” said the 1.73m tall shuttler.

“I joined the school when I was in Form 1 and I have improved gradually in training under the coaches (Chenhua and Salleh Suwandi). I do not give up easily and I think I made it this far because of my fighting spirit.”

Before joining the BAM set-up, the Johor lad was with the Yap Brothers Academy in Muar for four years.

“I reached the quarter-finals of the Asian and world junior championships last year. This time, I will try to win the titles, especially in the World Juniors on home ground. This is my last chance to get it right,” he said.

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