SEREMBAN: S. Kisona comes from a family of badminton players.
Her brothers Thinagaran, 27, and Mahendran, 23, and sister Kanmani, 26, once represented the Jelebu district in tournaments in Negri Sembilan.
Her father, Selvaduray Alageri, 58, a police officer, represented the Jelebu Police team in the Negri Government Services Games. He is also a qualified grade three umpire.
His wife, S Valarmathi, 52, represented her school and also played for the Police Family Association team.
Kisona first fell in love with the game after watching her parents and siblings play in tournaments.
“My love for the sport grew as I watched them play regularly. My parents were my first coaches. I initially took the sport as only a hobby.
“I only took the sport seriously when I was studying at SJK (C) Yuk Hwa.
“When we were staying in Jelebu, I used to travel by bus with my mother and siblings for badminton training in Seremban,” said Kisona.
Kisona first grabbed attention when she captured the singles and doubles (with Kelly Siow) titles in the 2009 Malaysia Schools Sports Council (MSSM) badminton tournament in Kangar, Perlis when she was only 10-years-old, making her the youngest-ever champion in the history of the tournament.
The shuttler, who is under the BA of Malaysia (BAM), has been making inroads this year with titles at the Hellas Open International Series and the Sydney International Series. She was also a semi-finalist in the Bulgaria International Challenge and the Malaysia International Series.
The World No 115 trains twice a day at BAM’s Akademi Badminton Malaysia in Bukit Kiara under coaches Tey Sue Bock and Loh Wei Seng.
Kisona celebrated Deepavali with her family members today.
Her Deepavali wish is to achieve good results in major tournaments, starting with the Philippines Sea Games on Nov 30-Dec 11.
“I need to be consistent in tournaments. My family have always encouraged me to achieve good results.
“My idol is India’s P.V. Sindhu, and I hope to emulate her one day,” Kisona added.