World Junior Championship finalist Low Zi Yu stars at the Allianz Junior Badminton Championship 2024

Twelve players were crowned Allianz Junior Badminton Championship (AJBC) Grand Finals U-15 and U-13 Boys and Girls champions at Stadium Juara, Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur yesterday. The U-15 and U-13 Boys and Girls categories in the third edition of AJBC consisted of Singles and Doubles matches.
World Junior Championship finalist Low Zi Yu representing Johor, as expected, cruised to her third AJBC title defeating Teoh Su Mei of Kuala Lumpur in straight sets, 21-10 and 21-17 in the U-15 Girls’ Singles final. Zi Yu and AJBC alumni Dania Sofea recently clinched silver at the World Junior Championship, upsetting higher ranked pairs on the way to the finals. She also made history as the youngest shuttler to reach a World Junior Championship final. The U-15 Girls’ Doubles final was a straightforward win for
A. Baavanya and Nur Aina Maisarah from Perak who defeated Johor’s S. Hasyni Devi and N. Navina 21-14; 21-14
Other matches in the U-15 Boys category went to the wire. The Singles final saw Kuala Lumpur’s Cheong Kai Sheng defeat Albee Loh of Johor, 21-8; 8-21 and 21-8 while the Doubles title went to East Malaysia to Chong Yan Cheng and Mohamad Najib Haqimi of Sarawak who also needed three sets to clinch the title.
Siti Nur Aminah Abdullah of Selangor was the only double winner of the Grand Finals, trouncing Chong Wan Xin of Pahang 21-16; 21-17 in the U-13 Girls’ final before coming back on court for the last match of the day with her pint-sized partner Adiq Puteri Waheeda to claim a hard-fought rubber game against their opponents from Perak in the Doubles final.
The Boys’ U-13 Singles final saw Putera Raees Rafeal of SMK St Paul’s Institution from Negeri Sembilan clinch the title after his opponent from Labuan retired in the third set while the Doubles final was an easy win for Kedah’s Ng Chia Tin and Putra Assolihin who defeated Chong Song Yu and Dani Syafi of Johor, 21-12; 21-12.
A total of 195 players made the cut for AJBC Grand Finals out of 3,113 players who registered for the 10 Qualifying Rounds which spanned across both peninsular and East Malaysia from May to November 2024. For the record, a total of four categories (boys’ singles, boys’ doubles, girls’ singles and girls’ doubles) were contested in the Under-13 and Under-15 age categories.
The winners took home RM1,000 prize money each for Singles and RM1,200 for Doubles and also a RM2,000 special grant for them to use for their future competition expenses including entry fees, purchase of equipment, coaching and others.
Allianz Malaysia Berhad Chief Executive Officer Sean Wang said: “Last year, we made the competition more meaningful by giving special RM2,000 grant to each winner – this is on top of the prize money they will receive as champions in their respective age group category. I am pleased to announce that we will be providing a similar grant again this year to the winners.
Badminton is an expensive sport and we hope this special grant will help defray some costs for players to train, purchase equipment and participate in tournaments as players need to compete in as many tournaments as possible to improve their game and I am sure, parents will agree with me on this when I say training and competition is the only way forward”.
AJBC 2024 is supported by the Malaysian Schools Sports Council (MSSM) and to learn more about the Allianz Junior Badminton Championship, visit https://www.allianz.com.my/ajbc

Low Zi Yu from Johor (centre) at the prize presentation ceremony for the U-15 Girls’ Singles category with other winners and Sean Wang, CEO, Allianz Malaysia Berhad.