The Badminton Asia Junior Championships women’s singles have usually been won by China. Since the tournament was first held in 1997 in Manila, Philippines, only three countries have been able to disrupt China’s dominance: Korea, Japan, and India.
From the three countries, only Japan has successfully placed its badminton players more than once to become champions. It was Aya Ohori in 2013 when the championships were held in Kinabalu, Malaysia, and Akane Yamaguchi in Taipei, 2014. Meanwhile, Korea once placed its representative in 2001, Jun Jae-youn, as the champion in Taipei, and India had PV Sindhu as the champion in 2012. The rest of the champions in the history of women’s singles in the Badminton Asia Junior Championships are all representatives of China.
This year, Indonesia also has the opportunity to make history through their representative, Mutiara Ayu Puspitasari. In the 2023 edition, she’s able to qualify for the finals after defeating Shou Qunyu at Among Rogo Sports Hall, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in the semifinals. In the final round, Mutiara, who is seeded in sixth position, will face the 14th seed from Korea, Kim Min-ji, who defeated the ninth seed from China, Xu Wenjing, 21-17, 17-21, 21-16.
This result also broke the chain of Chinese champions in women's singles. Since 2015, the country has always had its representatives in the fight to win the championship. Even in 2019, in Suzhou, the women's singles had an all-China badminton final where Zhou Meng won over Han Qianxi.
China’s loss in the women’s singles crushed their opportunity to sweep the titles in all categories. The same result also occurred in the women's doubles, where China couldn’t make it through the semifinals.
In women's doubles, the only Chinese doubles, Li Huazhou/Zhang Yuhan, who are seeded in the eighth place, lost in straight games 19-21, 19-21, to Park Seul/Yeon Seo-yeon, unseeded doubles from Korea. Previously, Japan had confirmed a ticket to the women's doubles final after the two Japanese pairs, Mei Sudo/Nao Yamakita and Maya Taguchi/Aya Tamaki, met in the semifinals. The match was eventually won by Mei Sudo/Nao Yamakita, who are the first seeds, 21-16, 21-15.
Despite not having any players in the women's singles and women's doubles, China has confirmed a title in the men's doubles and mixed doubles. Two pairs of the country's men's doubles, Chen Yongrui/Hu Keyuan, and Ma Shang/Zhu Yijun, qualified for the final round. In the semifinals, Chen Yongrui/Hu Keyuan, who were not seeded, beat Indonesian doubles Zidane Attauba Efendi/Kleopas Binar Putra Prakoso in straight games, 21-13, 22-20. Then Ma Shang/Zhu Yijun, seeded eighth, won three games, 21-19, 19-21, and 21-13, over the Chinese Taipei pair Lai Po-yu/Tsai Fu-cheng.
Likewise in mixed doubles. Two Chinese pairs will fight for the title in the final match. The first seed, Zhu Yijun/Huang Kexin, will face the third seed, Liao Pinyi/Zhang Jiahan. In the semifinals, both pairs beat the Korean pairs. Zhu Yijun/Huang Kexin won 21-12, 21-12, over Lee Min-wook/Cheon Hye-in, and Liao Pinyi/Zhang Jiahan beat Park Beom-soo/Yeon Seo-yeon 21-18, 21-18.
Previously, China swept all the titles, or a total of five individual titles, at the Badminton Asia Junior Championships in the years 2000, 2015, and 2016. However, in the mixed team event in 2023, China only reached the quarterfinals after being defeated by Japan 1-3. (*)
