Aina won't let tender years stop her from big aims
The 15-year-old, who is set to compete in both the girls' doubles and mixed doubles with Nuraqilah Maisarah Ramdan and Irfan Shazmir respectively, is out to win a medal in her debut Asian meet.
Aina and Nuraqilah only combined in April but did not take long to impress by finishing runners-up to teammates and last year's World Junior Championships silver medallists Dania Sofea Zaidi-Low Zi Yu in the Slovak Open in May.
While all attention has been on Dania-Zi Yu, Aina and the 18-year-old Nuraqilah have gone under the radar but this suits them just fine as they look to produce a good show in Solo.
'I'm one of the youngest in the Asian Juniors team but I want to prove myself by doing well,' said Aina, after a training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara yesterday.
'I know that expectations are higher on Dania-Zi Yu as they are our top girls' doubles pair and the pressure is less on me and Nuraqilah.
'We will use this as an advantage. We want to show that we can step up too. We want to go as far as possible and try to win a medal.'
Meanwhile, Nuraqilah, who has been chosen as the team captain along with Datu Anif Isaac, is ready to shoulder the responsibility to support her teammates and guide her younger partner in the tourney.
'I know I have more responsibilities as I'm older than Aina and need to guide her. I was also surprised to be chosen as team captain. I hope to justify the coaches' selection,' said Nuraqilah.
'The coaches decided to combine me and Aina to see if we could play well together. The Slovak Open was only our second tournament together, so we didn't expect to reach the final.
'Both of us are fast on court, so we could match each other's rhythm and gel well.
'We discuss a lot on where to improve on and our understanding is getting better.''
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