Thrilling Badminton Asia Junior Championships 2024 semifinals encounters await fans at the Gor Among Raga Hall as hosts Indonesia inched closer to realising their hopes of winning their first mixed team title on home soil since 2006.
Indonesia stormed into the last four after brushing aside defending champion Japan 3-0 in an exhilarating quarterfinals today with its men’s doubles duo Anselmus Bregit Fredy Prasetya/Pulung Ramadhan delivering the winning point, but not before being dragged into a tough battle by Kentsa Matsukawa/Yuto Nakashizu.
The Indonesian world junior No.7 pair were forced into a 56-minute rubber game before securing the semifinal spot with a 21-17, 12-21, 22-20 win over the Japanese pair.
Mixed pair Taufik Aderya/Rinjani Kwinara Nastine had earlier opened up the lead with a 21-13, 21-18 win over Rui Yamada/Aya Tamaki before Mohd. Zaki Ubaidillah widened the gap with a 22-20, 21-12 win over Kaumo Kawano in 46 minutes.
Indonesia will have Korea as their semifinal opponent later today. The Koreans were also in fiery form as they sealed a 3-0 victory over United Arab Emirates in just 80 minutes.
Mixed doubles pair Leong Hyeong Woo/Cheon Hye Yin defeated Dev Vishnu/Taabia Khan 21-18, 21-14 in 25 minutes, followed by Kim Min Sun who needed 25 minutes to down Mysha Omer Khan 21-11, 21-7. Men’s singles Yoon Ho Seng finally sealed Korea’s spot with a 21-6, 21-12 win over Bharath Lateesh.
The other semifinals are also expected to be as exciting with multiple champions China clashing against former champions Malaysia.
China had beaten Chinese Taipei 3-0 with points coming from Hu Ke Yuan/Lin Xiang Yi in the men’s doubles, Xu Wen Jing who defeated Wang Pei Yu 21-18, 21-13 while Wang Zi Jun clinched the winning point with a 21-11, 21-9 win over Zhe Ying Wu.
China take on Malaysia who had to dig deep before edging India in a closely-fought contest to secure their place in the last four and assured of a medal.
India looked the better contender in the first two encounters, taking a 2-0 lead over Malaysia with points coming from Sanskar SaraswaT/Shravani Walekar who beat Kang Khai Xing/Noraqilah Maisarah 21-16, 13-21, 21-17 in the first mixed doubles tie while Tanvi Sharma shocked world junior No.6 Siti Zulaikha in marathon duel to win 21-15, 15-21, 22-20.
Muhammad Faiq however gave Malaysia a lifeline after edging Pranay Shettigar in a tight three games battle which ended 15-21, 21-18, 21-19 while women’s doubles pair Ong Xin Yee/Carmen Ting levelled terms to force a decider with a straight game 21-16, 21-15 win over Navya Kanderi/Shravai Walekar.
It was then left to Malaysia’s top pair Kang Khai Xing/Aaron Tai and India’s Bhargav Ram Arigela/Arsh Mohammad to battle out which ended in the Malaysians sealing the tie in straight games of 21-18, 21-10 in 36 minutes.
The semi finals take place later today at the same venue.
The tournament’s mixed team competition, featuring 15 teams, runs until July 2 while the individual tournament is slated from July 3-7 at the same venue
