By Vikneswaran Raman
KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 -- Most four-year-olds can be quite a handful with their mischief and antics as they still lack discipline. But that’s one thing you can never accuse national shuttler S. Kisona of, not even at that tender age.
With her policeman father, A. Selvaduray, in tow as her first coach, Kisona was as disciplined and focused as they can be at that age when she held her first badminton racquet back in 2002.
She may not have known it back then, but that was the beginning of her slow and arduous climb to become the nation’s 2024 Paris Olympic aspirant in women’s singles event.
That her father was her first coach also played a key role in instilling the kind of drive, desire and determination that was needed for her to be where she is now -- among the country’s top women’s singles shuttlers after beating the odds to win the 2019 SEA Games gold in her debut.
It does help too that badminton runs in her family, with her father having been a part-time coach for Negeri Sembilan, while mother S. Valarmathi as well as her older siblings -- Thinagaran, Mahendran (brothers) and Kanmani -- all having played the game up to a certain level themselves.
“Both my parents guided and encouraged me to choose badminton as a career. I couldn’t be playful when I was young as my father was very strict. So, I learned the basics at a very young age,” she said when contacted by Bernama today.
Her father’s strict training regime began to bear fruit when Kisona started winning titles at school-level tournaments and emerged as the youngest champion of the Malaysian Schools Sports Council (MSSM) tournament by bagging the girls’ singles and doubles titles in 2009 at the age of just 10.
Five years later, disaster struck as the Seremban-born shuttler suffered multiple injuries at the 2014 World Junior Mixed Team Championships in Alor Setar, Kedah, forcing her to be out of action for two years and putting a huge dent on her blossoming career.
Thankfully, the fighting qualities instilled by her father during her growing years were enough to help her overcome the setback as she battled her way back to fitness -- marking her comeback by competing in the Dutch Junior International Grand Prix in March 2016.
But it took her a while to get back her rhythm. And it wasn’t until May 2017 that she caught fire -- lifting her first Badminton World Federation (BWF) title by clinching the Indonesian International Series, followed by her Malaysian International Series victory two months later.
However, it was when the 21-year-old was named as a replacement for defending champion Goh Jin Wei (stomach surgery) in the 2019 Philippines SEA Games that she finally became a household name.
Not only did Kisona defy the odds to retain the women’s singles gold medal for Malaysia in Manila last November, she also blew away some higher-ranked players en route to glory.
In February, world No 92 Kisona continued to show her new-found confidence when she helped the national team qualify for the Uber Cup on merit by making the semi-finals at the Asia Team Championships in Manila, which also saw her oust the likes of Japan’s Aya Ohori (world No 19) and Taiwan’s Hung Yi-Ting in the group fixtures.
She may have come a long way, but Kisona knows she would not be where she is without a proper support team.
“Though I faced many challenges and injuries, support from my family is what gets me going… I would like to thank my family members and coaches -- Datuk Tey Seu Bock and Loh Wei Seng -- for always motivating me and guiding me to become a better player.
“My ultimate goal is to win a medal in the Olympics. For now, I’d say that winning the Indonesian International Series and SEA Games titles are my best moments as a shuttler and something that’s close to my heart.
“It show that hard work will eventually pay off and is what motivates me to go the extra mile,” said Kisona, who added that she would have probably become a teacher had she not chosen badminton as a career.
Profile
Full name: Kisona Selvaduray
DOB: 1 Oct 1998
Height: 162 cm
Current ranking: 92
Highest ranking: 54
Languages: English, Bahasa Malaysia, Tamil and Mandarin.
Honours
Mixed team bronze at 2012 Asian Junior Championships
Girls singles bronze at 2013 Asian Youth Games
Winner of 2017 Indonesia International Series
Winner of 2017 & 2018 Malaysia International Series
Winner of 2019 Sydney International
Winner of 2019 Hellas Open
Women’s singles bronze at 2019 Bulgarian Open International Series
Women’s singles gold and women’s team event bronze at 2019 Philippines SEA Games
Women’s team bronze at 2020 Asia Team Championships
-- BERNAMA
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