Lethal combo: Shuttler Datu Anif Isaac (back) and Dania Sofea Zaidi pulled off one of the biggest surprises in the Asian junior meet. — Pix from Badminton Asia
Debutants make heads turn by shocking Thai top seeds in Asian juniors
PETALING JAYA: Shuttlers Datu Anif Isaac-Dania Sofea stole the show by stunning Thailand’s top seeds Attawut Sreepeaw-Sabrina Sophita to move into the mixed doubles third round in the Asian Junior Championships.
The 17-year-old Anif and Dania, 16, who were both making their debuts in the tournament, fought superbly and displayed nerves of steel to come away with a narrow 16-21, 21-17, 26-24 win over the more fancied Thais at the Among Rogo Sports Hall in Yogyakarta yesterday.
National junior head coach Jeffer Rosobin was pleased with the pair’s performance.
“Anif and Dania have been getting better and better and both showed their capabilities in the match today (yesterday),” said Jeffer.
“I can see that Dania is becoming more patient and calm. Both of them were brave and showed great fighting spirit and desire to win.”
The pair will play Singapore’s Mark Wong-Zheng Hong Li for a place in the quarter-finals.
Anif-Dania are the only Malaysian mixed pair left in the competition after both the national Under-18 champions Goh Yi Qin-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan and Lok Hong Quan-Clarissa San suffered defeats in their respective second round matches.
Luck was not on Hong Quan-Clarissa’s side when they went down fighting 21-23, 21-18, 22-24 to South Korea’s Lee Hyeong-woo-Chyeon Hye-in while Yi Qin-Noraqilah went down 21-19, 19-21, 14-21 to Taiwan’s Lai Po-yu-Liang Ching-sun.
Meanwhile, it was double joy for Dania after she also made it to the third round of the girls’ singles with a 24-22, 21-14 victory over the Philippines’ Christel Rei.
The Johor lass though faces a tougher task next against China’s Huang Linran.
Siti Zulaikha Azmi also reached the third round by beating India’s B. Adarshini Shri 21-15, 21-12 and will take on South Korean Kim Do-yeon next.
It was the end of the road for Ong Xin Yee when she lost 16-21, 18-21 to Taiwan’s Wang Pei-yu.
Malaysia’s challenge in the men’s singles is also over after both Mohd Faiq Masawi and Sng Wei Ming crashed out. Faiq went down 17-21, 18-21 to Japan’s Kazuma Kawano while Wei Ming lost 17-21, 21-17, 16-21 to Korea’s Lee Sun-jin.
RESULTS
(Malaysians only)
Second round
Boys’ doubles: Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing bt Nguyen Hoang Thai-Tran Quoc Khanh (Vie) 21-14, 21-15; Chen Junting-Liu Junrong (Chn) bt Isyraf Hafizin Ibrahim-Ahmad Redzuan Zulwaqqarizal 21-19, 21-18.
Girls’ singles: Dania Sofea Zaidi bt Christel Rei (Phi) 24-22, 21-14; Siti Zulaikha Azmi bt B. Adarshini Shri (Ind) 21-15, 21-12; Wang Pei-yu (Tpe) bt Ong Xin Yee 21-16, 21-18
Girls’ doubles: Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting bt Nabila Cahya-Olivia Damayani (Ina) 21-17, 21-9.
Mixed doubles: Datu Anif Isaac-Dania Sofea bt Attawut Sreepeaw-Sabrina Sophita (Tha) 16-21, 21-17, 26-24; Lai Po-yu-Liang Ching-sun (Tpe) bt Goh Yi Qin-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan 19-21, 21-19, 21-14; Lee Hyeong-woo-Chyeon Hye-in (Kor) bt Lok Hong Quan-Clarissa San 23-21, 18-21, 24-22.
Third round
Boys’ singles: Kazuma Kawano (Jpn) bt Mohd Faiq Masawi 21-17, 21-18, Lee Sun-jin (Kor) bt Sng Wei Ming 21-17, 17-21, 21-16.
