KUALA LUMPUR: There have been no winners from Malaysia for three consecutive editions of the World Junior Championships (WJC).
On Saturday, Bryan Jeremy Goonting-Aaron Tai and Low Han Chen-Chong Jie Yu settled for bronze medals following semi-final defeats in the boys' doubles and mixed doubles in Spokane, United States.
Bryan-Aaron were beaten 21-18, 15-21, 21-14 by Taiwan's Lai Po Yu-Tsai Fu Cheng, while Low Han Chen-Chong Jie Yu could not overcome China's top seeds Zhu Yi Jun-Huang Ke Xin, succumbing 21-14, 21-14.
These defeats resulted in Malaysia concluding their campaign with three bronze medals.
This tally includes the bronze secured in the mixed team event the previous week.
Despite these setbacks, it was a commendable performance, especially considering the national junior team had returned empty-handed from the last four major tournaments since 2019.
This record includes two post-Covid 19 tournaments: the WJC in Santander, Spain the previous year and the Asian Junior Championships in Yogyakarta in July.
These results led to the dismissal of the former national youth development director, Misbun Sidek.