The First Time

On August 2024, Kiera participated in a local tournament called Four Season International Badminton Championship 2024 organised by Philip Teh. Historically, his tournaments were notoriously known for delays. It was for this reason we did not pay any heed to it initially.

However just after the closing date, during her routine training in LJYBA, she was asked to partner Wong Wen Khang in the mix doubles open category. This was her maiden pairing for mix doubles in a competition. They were very much a scratch pair with no training time as they submitted their names at the eleventh hour. Simultaneously, her doubles partner, Eva Tham also asked her to join the U18 doubles category. To top it off, she also signed up for the U16 singles category for a good measure. Just like that she participated in three categories for the first time!

We were also worried about the gruelling schedules of her draws, whether she could last all three different categories despite playing the 30 points system. Indeed this tournament recorded many first time for her. The competition carried on for two days consecutively. In the end, very much to our surprise, not only did she survive the tournament without cramps nor injuries, she also came out Champion beating all her opponents in all three categories.

The one that we never thought they could go all the way to win was her mix doubles open category. Despite never played with Wen Khang before, they combined very naturally and her defensive play was like never before. The highlight was the semi-finals match vs the favorite pair. Kiera and Wen Khang came back from behind 12 – 24 and ended up winning 30 - 27. What a match this was. (Video highlights below).

The take away from here was, this tournament has given me a new perspective about mix doubles pairing (which was overlooked before). It became a revelation that could possibly elevate her doubles training hereon. Reasons as follows :

1. The strength and speed of a boy partner pushes the girl to match the tempo of the game;

2. The opponent especially the boy targets the opposing girl mostly. Therefore, the girl partner has to be solid defensively and will bring out the best in her game.

Summary of First Time

1. Mix Doubles in a competition;

2. Three categories in a competition;

3. Champions in all three categories : Mix Doubles Open, Girls Doubles U18, Girls Singles U16