Malaysia’s Zulfadli Zulkifli eyes gold at upcoming Asian and World Junior Badminton Championships
The winner of Malaysia’s Under-18 National Junior Circuit Grand Prix Finals, Zulfadli Zulkifli, has set his eyes on the upcoming Under-18 events of the Asian Juniors Championship, in July and the World Juniors Championship, in October.
The youngster defeated Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayup of Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) by a margin of 21-19 and 21-17 in the 43-minute final of National Junior Circuit Grand Prix Finals.
The 18-year-old shuttler performed superbly in the Boys’ singles match to trash the BJSS player, Ayup, in the final and add another title to his collection. The youngster’s aim is to represent the country in the Asian Juniors Championship being held in India,
this July, before the World Junior Championship in October, at Chinese Taipei.
The Malaysian Junior Champion while speaking to the media said, “My current goals are to play for Malaysia in the Asian Juniors and the World Juniors. It doesn’t matter whether I am with the BAM or not because at the end of the day, I still have to give
my best for the country.”
The Kuala Lumpur shuttler has already grabbed the Under-12 and Under-16 titles with a great difference of badminton techniques and skills in the national circuit. After clinching the Under-18 title, he is looking to book a spot in the Olympics and bring
the glory back home. For this very reason, he is keen to win more titles so that he can make it higher in the world rankings.
Zulfadli said, “My long-term goal is to gain more world ranking because I want to play in an Olympics. It is an honour to don national colours and maybe being part of the BAM may improve my chances.”
The World Number 188, Zulfadli, is a potential replacement of World Number One, Lee Chong Wei, as he is retiring from the international circuit next year. After Wei, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) has no shuttler in the top 15 players in the
world.
Zulfadli is currently training under his badminton coach, A. Sankar, in a training programme organised by a professional badminton outfit, KLRC, with Sankar’s expertise. Sankar believes Zulfadli has the talent to make his country proud in the international
circuit.
Sankar said, “Zulfadli is an incredibly talented player and only through a good training programme such as the BAM’s can he go far and fulfil his potential.”
Malaysia has never won the Boys’ singles title in the Asian Junior Championship. Only two runner-up positions by Mohd Arif Abdul Latif in 2007 and Iskandar Zulkarnian Zainuddin in 2009, was the best the nation could do in the event. With Zulfadli in the
squad, their hopes are high towards a better result this year.
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