KUALA LUMPUR – The Badminton Association of Malaysia’s (BAM) leaner lineup for the 2023 BWF World Junior Championships (WJC) stems from valuable insights gained from the team’s performance in the previous edition, according to administrative director Michelle Chai.
In a recent statement, the national body unveiled its roster, comprising 11 shuttlers, made up of six boys and five girls.
Among them are world junior number three men’s singles shuttler Eogene Ewe Eon and 2023 Dutch Junior International women’s singles semi-finalist Siti Zulaikha Muhammad Azmi.
In contrast, the team sent 17 players, nine boys and eight girls, to compete in Santander, Spain last year.
However, they were unable to advance to the quarterfinals, ultimately finishing ninth in the mixed team event after a hard-fought victory against Denmark, 4-1.
To make matters worse, this marked the first time that no Malaysian player secured a spot in the singles competition quarterfinals.
“WJC is an elite competitive platform for all top junior badminton players, and as such, only the best of the best are selected to carry the nation’s flag,” Michelle tweeted.
“We believe those players selected will be competitive and make the nation proud.
“The approach is indeed a little different. In the past, we would use WJC as part of exposure.”
Michelle added the decision to field a smaller squad also takes into account the team’s lackluster performance at the 2023 Asian Junior Championships (AJC) in Yogyakarta in July.
There, the juniors faced a challenging quarterfinal defeat, 3-0, against reigning champions Thailand in the mixed team event and none of the players managed to secure a spot in the singles competition semi-finals.
The 2023 World Junior Championships will take place in Spokane, Washington in the US from September 25 to October 8. – September 13, 2023