Born and raised in Kemaman, Terengganu, the 18-year-old shuttler first held a racket at the young age of two!

Wan Muhammad Arif Wan Junaidi started to take the sport of badminton seriously when he was chosen to represent his alma mater, Sekolah Kebangsaan Seri Geliga, Kemaman at eight. 

It didn’t take long for the Terengganu Badminton Association (BA) to take notice of his natural talent. Arif was re-located to a primary school in Kuala Terengganu at the age of 12 to facilitate his training sessions at the state BA training facility. Four years later, he was selected to join the Bukit Jalil Sport School (BJSS) through the Talent Identification (TID) programme.

Being a left-handed player, the second child out of four siblings harbours dreams of emulating his idol, South Korea’s Lee Yong Dae.

Arif soared to the top of the world junior rankings after strong back-to-back showings in Europe where he reached the Dutch Junior final and later captured the German Junior title alongside partner, Haikal Nazri in March this year.  

Not one to rest on his laurels, Arif has set his sights on sealing the World Junior crown with Haikal next year. The World Junior individual meet is slated for 11-24 January in Auckland, New Zealand.

WHAT THE COACH SAID

Vountus Indramawan: “Arif has a great personality that allows him to work hard without being forced to. His determination never failed to impress me - always striving for the best on court. If he can improve his strength and stamina to stay on court longer during matches, he will one day be one of the top players in the world.”