KUALA LUMPUR: A new star is born in Malaysian badminton as Low Zi Yu made history today by becoming the youngest shuttler to reach a World Junior Championships final.
At just 14 years and 53 days old, Zi Yu broke the previous record set by Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon, who was 14 years and 269 days old when she reached the 2009 girls' singles final in the Alor Star edition.
Zi Yu, alongside her partner Dania Sofea Zaidi, pulled off a stunning upset by defeating China's top seeds Chen Fan Shu Tian-Liu Jia Yue to advance to the girls' doubles final in Nanchang.
The unseeded Malaysians fought back from a game down to win 16-21, 21-16, 21-17 in a thrilling 71-minute encounter today.
It was a remarkable victory, especially given that 17-year-old Dania and Zi Yu, who are from Johor, are competing in their first major junior event.
The last Malaysian pair to reach the girls' doubles final at the tournament were Pearly Tan-Toh Ee Wei, who won silver in 2018.
Earlier, Dania-Zi Yu overcame their highly rated compatriots Ong Xin Yi-Carmen Ting, this year's Asian Junior bronze medallists, in the quarter-finals.
"We were really nervous when our opponents closed the gap, but we kept reminding ourselves to stay focused and avoid simple mistakes," Zi Yu told the Badminton World Federation.
"Although they were very strong, we just played our usual game."
Dania was delighted that their attacking strategy worked.
"We stayed aggressive and kept smashing to put pressure on the Chinese pair. After losing the first game, we upped our tempo and managed to force a decider.
"We were both excited and nervous when we took a big lead in the final game, but I'm so happy we held on to win.
"This is our first World Juniors, and we can't wait for the final."
Dania-Zi Yu will face Japan's Ririna Hiramoto and Aya Tamaki in tomorrow's final. The Japanese duo defeated Indonesia's Ishana Syahira Meida-Rinjani Kwinara Nastine 23-21, 21-19 in their semi-final.
For the record, Goh Jin Wei was the last Malaysian world junior champion when she won the girls' singles title in 2018.