We spoke about many good progress Kiera has made in 2024. However, I like to touch on one major tournament that slipped out of her hands. Like all athletes, performances has ups and downs. Similarly for Kiera in this year’s JET finals.
She was drawn into a difficult preliminary group with Mirza Batrisya (BJSS, Pahang) and Dayana Farisha (Terengganu). Many eyebrows were raised because all three drawn into this group were top rank in their respective State BAs. Particularly Mirza who was arguably considered the TOP U14 girls in the country (in the absence of Low Zi Yu). However the draw here were based on points earned during JET 1 & JET 2 despite some inconsistencies in the draw. Kiera was distraught. We made all attempts to keep her motivated and approach the game positively but it was never easy convincing a growing up mind with a bundle of nerves. To make matters worse, on the night before her first match, she developed an abdominal discomfort likely from a bad Calpis cultured milk she had consumed after dinner. So severe was her discomfort that she could not sleep on the first night. We feared the worst as she may not be at her best due to insufficient sleep. The next day, fortunately, she won against Dayana but lost to Mirza. Mirza won both her games in the group. Only the leader in each group qualifies for the quarter finals. Thus Kiera’s quest for honours in the JET Finals ended in the preliminary round.
Similarly in the U14 doubles category, Kiera and Eva could not top their preliminary group after losing to the top ranking pairs of Putrajaya and Terengganu although they won the Johor pair. With two losses and only one win in their group, their doubles quest also came to an end.
The significance of the singles lost to Mirza was telling because had she beaten her and made it to the semi finals, she will automatically be invited to represent Malaysia to play in the Badminton Asia U17 & U15 Junior Championships 2024 in Chengdu, China. This year in particular, ABM do not have U14 players in their Academy. Therefore BAM selected top four finishes from the JET Finals to represent the country for U15 category in Chengdu. Thus the reason why a good opportunity awaits for those who made it to the semifinals as they get to play in this BWF international tournament automatically (with no selection process) and fully funded by BAM.
Some insight on Badminton Asia U17 & U15 Junior Championships :
1. This tournament is organised Badminton Asia Confederation (BAC) under the flag of BWF. Established in 1959, BAC has been the nursery of Champions in Asian Badminton and used as a springboard for the preparation of World Junior Championship which will be held towards the end of each year.
2. U15 internationally is interpreted as below 15 yo which means 14yo. ABM youngest intake was15 yo. Therefore, this year ABM had to take non-ABM players to represent the Country. The JET Finals is the platform which they select from.
3. This is an annual tournament participated by 10 Asian countries. Each country will have up to a maximum of 4 participants in each category. We can conclude that the four representatives can be considered among the best U14 players in their respective countries.
4. Selected players will be fully funded by BAM and coached by BAM coaches.
5. The four U14 singles selected were, Chong Wan Xin 13yo (Pahang), Siti Nuramina 13yo (Selangor), Mirza Batrisya 14yo (BJSS-Pahang) and Wang Zi Qin 14yo (Kuala Lumpur).
6. Girls doubles were represented by Chloe Leong/Mahalakshmi (Putrajaya), Lau Xin En/Teoh Min Yi (Kedah) and Chong Wan Xin/Mirza Batrisya (Pahang).
7. Mixed doubles selected were Muhd Noor Hanafi/Lau Xin En (Kuala Lumpur/Kedah), Hans Wong/Chloe Leong (Kuala Lumpur/Putrajaya) and Hakim Saufi Fakhrul/Mahalakshmi (Kelantan/Putrajaya).
8. The Champion of GSU15 in this tournament is fast rising Indian junior, Tanvi Patri who beat Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen from Vietnam in the final.
For the record, Kiera did not qualify for the JET finals in 2023 when she was 13yo. However she did qualify in the 2022 JET Finals for GSU12 with Nur Sofia Aliyah but only played in the preliminary rounds.
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