Seeking solace: Eogene Ewe hopes to make up for disappointing Asian junior outing with a good showing at the worlds in the USA next month.
PETALING JAYA: Eogene Ewe is out to regain his confidence ahead of the World Junior Championships from Sept 25-Oct 8 in the United States.
The national junior men’s singles shuttler finished runner-up at the German Junior Open in March but has struggled to maintain his form since.
Eogene was part of the Asian Junior Championships squad that failed to win any medals in Yogyakarta last month.
The 18-year-old was considered the best bet in the singles to win a medal for the country but went down 16-21, 8-21 to China’s Zhang Zhijie in the third round of the individual event.
Eogene’s woes were compounded when he fell to a shock 21-16, 17-21, 17-21 defeat to teammate Ng In Qin in the quarter-finals of the National Under-18 Championships in Alor Setar, Kedah, a little over a week ago.
Eogene is hoping for better fortunes at the world junior meet.
“I need to regain my confidence as I have been losing a lot,” said Eogene after a training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara yesterday.
“I also need to improve the tactical part of my game and maintain my mental and physical condition.”
Eogene admitted that the pressure is higher on him and his teammates after the Asian Junior disappointment.
“There is pressure on me but I don’t want to think too much about this,” said Eogene.
“I just want to go all out.”
On his strongest challenger in the meet, Eogene said: “The strongest player in the competition will be Alex Lanier of France.
“He has even beaten Denmark’s Anders Antonsen (who is a senior player) this year.”
Lanier is the 2022 European junior champion and has already started competing in high level senior events.
He is currently ranked No. 48 in the world.
Eogene and the other junior players are training with the senior team as part of their preparation for the world junior meet.
The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) will release the names of the players set to join Eogene in the prestigious tournament today.
