KUALA LUMPUR: Girls' doubles Dania Sofea Zaidi-Low Zi Yu may have fallen short at the World Junior Championships (WJC), but Malaysian fans should celebrate their silver-medal achievement in Nanchang today.
No one expected Dania-Zi Yu to make a splash at their first major tournament after clinching the Malaysia Games gold medal in August.
However, they proved they were no mere "jaguh kampung" (village champions) by finishing as runners-up at the WJC.
In a hard-fought final, Dania-Zi Yu lost 21-17, 21-17 to Japan's Ririna Hiramoto-Aya Tamaki in a 43-minute contest.
Despite the defeat, 14-year-old Zi Yu made history by becoming the youngest player to reach a WJC final, aged 14 years and 53 days.
While she couldn't surpass Thai shuttler Ratchanok Intanon's record of being the youngest champion at 14 years and 269 days, Zi Yu's partnership with 17-year-old Dania was nothing short of remarkable.
Dania-Zi Yu are only the second Malaysian girls' doubles pair to reach the WJC final, following Pearly Tan-Toh Ee Wei's silver in Ontario in 2018.
The Johor-born pair only teamed up earlier this year, defeating several junior pairs under the BA of Malaysia (BAM) to win the Sukma title in August.
Both players originally started their careers in the singles.
"I'm proud to be the youngest finalist, but I'm also sad because we couldn't win gold for Malaysia," said Zi Yu.
"It's surprising that we earned a medal since we didn't really practice together. We were part of the two-week centralised camp for this tournament but played only singles."
On the future of their partnership, Zi Yu said she would continue to pair with Dania, although their main focus remains singles.
Dania also contributed to Malaysia's bronze medal in the mixed team event in Nanchang.
"I'm sorry we couldn't bring home the gold," said Dania.
"We had a chance to come back in the second game, but our opponents changed tactics and played faster, and we couldn't keep up."
"Despite being only 14, Zi Yu is a strong attacker and defender. I hope we can continue playing together, even though both of us want to focus on singles."
Their silver medal could be the push they need to consider girls' doubles more seriously.
With their potential, Dania-Zi Yu could return next year and complete the job at the WJC in India.