2 April, 2025
Mutiara Mandala has her sights set on the very top, but such ambition is unsurprising if her current trajectory is anything to go by.
The 12-year-old from Leicestershire hopes to rise to the summit of the badminton world and is on the right path, already competing in and winning matches well above her age group.
“I want to be the world’s greatest women’s singles badminton player. That’s my ultimate goal,” she asserted.
“I win the Under-13 age group easily and I want to be able to win the Under-15 easily like that by the end of this year and in the upcoming years.
“Then, going into Under-17 and Under-19, trying to win against those older players in those age groups.”
Mandala has the results to back up her lofty aims. She took gold at the U15 French Borders tournament before winning bronze at the U15 8 Nations.
She also achieved a huge result against a player far older than her while competing in the YONEX Legacy at the YONEX All England in Birmingham – an experience she relished.
“It was great to be on those courts where all those legends were. It was very hard, though, because it was a big court and I wasn’t used to that,” said Mandala.
“I wasn’t expecting [to win]. I knew she was much stronger and more experienced than me, but I played to my best ability.
“I got through in the end, and just knowing that I played on that court, it was an amazing time.
“It was a privilege to play there and it would be a dream to one day compete in the All England tournament myself.”
Mutiara Mandala speaks to media at the YONEX All England (Credit: Atu Sagita)
Mandala was just 10 years old when she started competing in an age category above her own and while the step up is a challenge, she has embraced the opportunity to develop her skills.
“It’s made me work harder and want to improve even more. It’s challenging, but it’s a great experience to play above all the age groups,” Mandala explained.
“It’s much harder than my own age group, but I’ve just got to keep on pushing. I know they’re much stronger and older than me, and they’ve got more power, but I’ve got to think bigger than them.
“I’ve got to use my skills and every strength of mine has to be a bit faster and higher intensity. I’ll get through it.”
While she has shown precocious talent, her success is also a result of hours of hard work.
The East Midlands youngster wakes up at 5am everyday to go on a 30-minute run before fitting in an hour of on-court training before school starts.
She follows that up with two hours of training after school which she juggles with finishing off her homework.
Such commitment is supported by Mandala’s mum Atu Sagita, who is also a Badminton England age group coach. It was Sagita who first inspired her daughter’s love of the sport.
“I always used to watch her play when I was little, and to see how she played, it made me want to try,” remembered Mandala.
“Then the first time I tried it, it was a great experience. I played her and I just loved to see her style and hopefully see that play in my game.”
Now, as Mandala plots her path to the top, she hopes to follow in the footsteps of South Korea’s An Se-young and Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu-ying.
“I would love to have [An’s] talent to keep the rally going with her retrieval skills and [Tai] is the master of deception,” she said.
“I would love to be able to use those skills in my game in future matches.”
