SHUTTLER Ong Ken Yon left it till the last day to grab his playoff spot in the boys' singles of the National Junior Ranking Challenge.
Starting the day in Group A in third spot, the 18-year-old needed victories in order to join the top two of Justin Hoh and Jacky Kok in the playoffs next month against the senior backup players.
The Melakan, ranked No 20 in the junior world rankings, got off to a great start when he downed Ong Zhen Yi 19-21, 21-16, 21-5 in the morning session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM).
Boosted by the morning win, Ken Yon went on to finish strongly by thumping Anson Cheong 21-6, 21-12 in the evening session.
That gave him a 7-2 record to finish in third place behind first placed Justin and second placed Jacky who both finished with an 8-1 record.
The trio will go on to meet their seniors in the playoffs next month.
V. Poopathi and Anson, who finished ninth and 10th respectively in the 10-player group, will face off against the top two players from Group B: Eogene Ewe Eon and Dylan Ooi in the playoffs to determine their rankings.
BAM Youth Development Director Datuk Misbun Sidek said he was pleased that the ranking challenge achieved its objective of putting the junior shuttlers to the test.
"We organised this ranking challenge for the sole reason that there has been no competition for almost a year due to the Movement Control Order earlier in the year," said Misbun.
"It was good competition for the players to gauge their level and it also allowed them to be competitive in their own categories.
"I'm definitely pleased with what I've seen so far, and this is the platform that we need to keep improving during times like these to raise the standards of our junior players," added Misbun who assumed the position of development chief in May.