KUALA LUMPUR: As the race to next month's Allianz Junior Badminton Championships (AJBC) Grand Finals heats up, more players are claiming their spots in the qualifying legs of Melaka, Johor and Kelantan.
In the Melaka leg, held at the Jebat Racquet Sports Centre recently, Veehan Preman from SMK Taman Jasmin 2, Kajang, defeated Javier Ng from SMK Bandar Baru Sg Long in the Under-15 boys' singles in an all-Selangor final.
Javier then partnered Low See Zhe from SMK Bukit Rahman Putra to beat a pair from Seremban to claim the Under-15 boys' doubles title.
Veehan said: "At AJBC 2022 in Kuala Lumpur, I was not focused and my stamina was not where it should be even though I finished third in the boys' Under-13 singles and reached the quarter-finals in the doubles.
"So this year, I am really happy to win the boys' Under-15 singles after changing my badminton club. It's okay I didn't win the doubles, as at least I have made it to the Grand Finals again."
In the qualifying round eight held at Dewan Badminton Tengku Anis, Pengkalan Chepa, Kelantan, Nik Al Amin Azaem from SMK Putera Kota Baru achieved a double. He won the singles title in the Under-13 boys' category after defeating his doubles partner, Naqib Mifdhal, from Maktab Sultan Ismail. Later, they combined to win the doubles title.
Dayana Farisya from SMK Ibrahim Fikri won the girls' Under-15 singles and doubles titles.
In Johor, Albee Loh and Muhammad Darwisy emerged as the boys' doubles champions in their respective age groups, but couldn't repeat their feat in the singles.
Albee from Foon Yew High School, Kulai, partnered Muhammad Iqbal from SMK Skudai to win the Under-15 doubles title, but succumbed to Kua Ming Ze from SMK Seri Perling in the singles final.
In the Under-13, Darwisy of SM Agama Dato' Klana Petra Maamor and his partner, Hoo Kai Jun from SMK Methodist bagged the doubles crown, but he couldn't reproduce his form and lost to Chiam Zi Hong of SJKC Pu Sze in the singles final.
The AJBC Grand Finals, featuring Under-13 and Under-15 finalists from all the qualifying rounds, will take place at Stadium Juara from Nov 20–25.