KUALA LUMPUR: Despite the strong showing of Malaysian boys' doubles Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing in Europe recently, BAM junior development head Jeffer Rosobin does not want to get carried away.
Instead, the Indonesian admitted that the Asian Junior Championships, scheduled for June 28-July 7 in Bali, will be an open affair.
Yesterday, Aaron-Khai Xing came close to winning their second straight title in Europe when they reached the German Junior final in Berlin.
However, the Malaysians fell short in their bid as they went down in straight games, 22-20, 21-16, to China's Chen Yong Rui-Chen Zhe Han.
Just last week, Aaron-Khai Xing defeated the Chinese duo in the Dutch Junior semi-finals, en route to the final and ultimately winning the crown.
"Aaron-Khai Xing lost a bit of focus in Germany, they still need to improve in terms of speed and power to be a much stable pair.
"The hope is for us to continue the good work and have a good outing at the Asian Junior.
"The pairs from China played in both the Dutch and German Juniors, and we need to be ready for them.
"The opportunity for our pair to do well is there, but it's also a very open affair," said Jeffer.
Aaron-Khai Xing were not the only Malaysian juniors who shone in Europe.
At the Dutch Juniors, girls' singles player Siti Zulaikha Azmi and another boys' pair, Faiq Haziq-Lok Hong Quan, also did well by reaching the semi-finals and settling for bronze.
Meanwhile, BAM announced that the city of Aire-sur-la-Lys in France has been chosen as the training base for the Malaysian badminton players ahead of the Paris Olympics in July.
The team will arrive in the city on July 14 and train for 10 days before heading to Paris.
According to a BAM statement on social media, Aire-sur-la-Lys offers badminton facilities and various amenities for track, fitness, and recovery sessions.