KUALA LUMPUR: Following a poor outing at the Asian Junior Championships (AJC) earlier this month, there was consolation for the Malaysian junior players today at the Pembangunan Jaya Raya Junior International Grand Prix in Tangerang Selatan, Indonesia.
Malaysia had representatives in three finals: Under-19 boys' doubles, Under-19 girls' singles and Under-15 boys' singles.
Kuala Lumpur's Lucas Lee captured the Under-15 boys' singles title after scoring an impressive 21-10, 21-19 win over third seed Thanik Foo of Thailand.
In the Under-19 girls' singles final, Malaysia's second seed Ong Xin Yee fell 21-8, 21-13 to Japan's Sora Ishioka.
In the Under-19 boys' doubles final, Faiq Haziq-Lok Hong Quan, who were the second seeds, lost 21-12, 21-11 to homesters Jonathan Farrell Gosal-Adrian Pratama.
Last week, Malaysia ended their campaign at the AJC with only one representative in the individual quarter-finals. Malaysia reached the mixed team last eight, but lost 3-0 to Thailand.
The poor showing has put national junior development director, Misbun Sidek, in a tight spot. It is understood that a special task force will meet later this week to deliberate on the next course of action.
The Badminton Association of Malaysia is unhappy, and has indicated that something must be done to stop the rot. Last year, Malaysia failed to have any representative in the quarter-finals of the World Junior Championships.