Iskandar wants to be the brightest star in Asian Juniors

KUALA LUMPUR: The lighting system is back in order at the Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara here.

And Malaysia’s Iskandar Zul­kar­nain Zainuddin will be out to shine the brightest at the venue in his last campaign in the Asian Junior Championships, which begin on Sunday.

The 18-year-old wants to bring joy to Malaysia in both the mixed team and individual events. The mixed team competition starts on Sunday and the individual events begin on Wednesday.

Iskandar said that everything was in place for him to end his last year as a junior player with a flourish.

“Even the lights (which had disrupted national training at the stadium) are working perfectly now. I have done everything I can as far as preparations are concerned. It’s now to go out there and perform,” said the reigning national junior champion.

Iskandar, however, admitted that the pressure was mounting on him to become the first Malaysian to win an Asian junior singles title and the second to reach the final after Mohd Arif Abdul Latif last year.

There has also been growing expectation on Iskandar, especially after having performed consistently well thus far this year, including winning the Dutch and German Open junior titles.

“I am the top seed and I am expected to live up to the tag. There will always be some kind of pressure and I have to handle it the best way I can. I will give my best,” he said.

Iskandar added that players from Thailand, South Korea and China would also be strong contenders for the title.

“One of my early challengers in the individual event will be Pisit (Poodchalat of Thailand). I have a 3-2 record against him,” he said.

“There are some others from South Korea and China. We don’t really know their strength and having to deal with the unknown is another challenge.

“In the mixed team event, it will be an achievement to reach the semi-finals. We are stronger for the boys’ matches compared to the girls. We will bank on our fighting spirit to see us through.”

Last year, Malaysia were beaten in the semi-finals of the mixed team competition.

Posted by Lucas Liau on 2:58 PM. Filed under News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0