Penang won their second PETRONAS National Interstate Under-18 Mixed Team Championships 2025 in two years following a retirement in the final, decisive tie that gave the host the 4-3 win at the PBA Hall here in Bukit Dumbar.

And the final could not have been more dramatic, as the islanders had to toil before taking a 3-0 lead in the first three matches of the finals, which took almost three hours to complete.

First up was the Mixed Doubles, with the duo of Tan Zhi Yang and Nicole Tan Pei En, fresh from their win of the PETRONAS Malaysia International Challenge 2025 just last week, having to dig deep before they were able to take the first point for Penang.

Up against Johor’s pair of 16-year-olds in Chiam Zi Yi and Low Zi Yu, the Selangor duo took almost 80 minutes to reel in the first point following their 21-19, 17-21, 21-18 win.

Then it was the turn of the first Women’s Singles and the first Men’s Singles to deliver the next two points for Selangor with Oo Shan Zi outplaying Hasyni Devi Sahathevan 21-16, 21-9, and Louis Lee Qi Jun surviving Chen Jia Le.

In the hour-long duel, Qi Jun, who played at the Asian Junior Championships in July this year in Indonesia, conceded the first set 15-21 before rallying to take the next two sets 21-9, 21-16 to put Selangor comfortably 3-0 in front.

However, the Johor camp did not give up, and they would then stage a remarkable fightback in the next three matches to draw the final series 3-3.

Daniel Tan Ying Enn-Siau Yu Hang provided the best turnaround for the Southerners when they won the Men’s Doubles match to shut down Selangor’s Muhamad Adam Haris and Nixon Ang Jia Shen 21-16, 21-19.

The win seemed to have inspired Zi Yu, playing in the second Women’s Singles, and Zi Yi in the second Men’s Singles, as they responded to the battle cry with sheer enthusiasm.

With the experience of playing at the World Junior Championships behind her, Zi Yu was patient throughout her exchange against Lim Zhi Shin before wrapping up the point, 21-17, 21-10.

On the other hand, Zi Yi seemed determined to make up for the disappointment in the Mixed Doubles earlier as he outpaced Tan Zhi Shen 25-23, 21-10 in the contest that took a good 54 minutes to complete.

With the score level at 3-3 and down to the decisive Women’s Doubles for the crucial winning point, the Johor pair of Hasyni Devi Sahathevan and Dania Sofea Zaidi were on court for just 25 minutes before the decision was made to retire.

The score stood 17-13 to Hasyni-Dania Sofea, but with the withdrawal, it handed the vital point to Christine Lam Mei He and Nicole Chau Xuan and Penang the 4-3 victory for the title this year.

In the meantime, last year’s runners-up Selangor salvaged some pride after coming in third in the competition when they beat Sabah 4-1 in the classification match.

Sabah had started brightly when Datu Anif Datu Asrah-Saidatul Saadiah Muhammad delivered the first point for the Borneo side through the Mixed Doubles when they beat Selangor’s Branson Hee Hek Fung-Sheyeon Wong E-Shwen 21-18, 21-23, 21-10.

However, Selangor did not lie down as they fought back to take the next four matches, through the first and second Men’s and Women’s Singles, for the win.