THE BEST OF ASIA'S JR: Karupathevan Letshanaa (Malaysia)
Karupathevan Letshanaa is a Malaysian player, currently ranked #22 in BWF’s World Junior ranking for women’s singles. At 18 years old, she’s had over 25 career wins in women’s singles and women’s doubles, making her a future best of Asia star!
The 18-year-old player is only at the beginning of her professional career, but she’s already been playing for a few years in many junior competitions, as far back as 2016. In 2016, she participated in several tournaments such as the YONEX SUNRISE INDIA JUNIOR INTERNATIONAL BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIPS 2016, OUE SINGAPORE YOUTH INTERNATIONAL SERIES 2016, and BANGLADESH INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR 2016 (U19) in singles and doubles.
The following year she went even further at the OUE SINGAPORE YOUTH INTERNATIONAL SERIES 2017, even reaching the semifinals of the competition before losing to Japanese player Kaoru SUGIYAMA 13-21, 11-21. Despite losing, we can already see the progress since last year!
Letshanaa kept on getting better each year. By 2018, she’s continued on competing in many international tournaments but this time, performing significantly better. At the PEMBANGUNAN JAYA RAYA JUNIOR GRAND PRIX 2018, she reached the quarter-finals, and at the EGYPT INTERNATIONAL 2018, she reached the semi-finals. But finally, this was also the year where she became victorious. At the MAURITIUS INTERNATIONAL 2018, she won 1st place, defeating opponent Katerina TOMALOVA 21-15, 21-10 in just under 30 minutes!
The next year, she continued to play in many tournaments from the BADMINTON ASIA JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS 2019 (INDIVIDUAL EVENT) to CELCOM AXIATA MALAYSIA JUNIOR INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE 2019, MALDIVES INTERNATIONAL FUTURE SERIES 2019 and more. Last year in 2020, because of COVID-19, many international tournaments were canceled. However, Letshanaa managed to reach another final, this time at the PRESIDENT CUP NEPAL JUNIOR INTERNATIONAL SERIES 2020 where she placed 2nd against opponent Tasnim MIR.
We’re so excited for her growth in her badminton career. We wish her all the best and will support her journey.
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