KOREAN Yoon Ho Seong upstaged second seed Patcharakit Apiratchataset to storm into his first menās singles finals of the Badminton Asia Junior Championships 2024 being held in Gor Among Raga.
Yoon was in commanding form and got the better of the Thai young shuttler in a straight game of 21-13, 21-11 to clinch a spot in tomorrowās finale against top seed and defending champion Hu Zhe An of China.
Hu, yet to drop a game throughout the tournament, was in fiery form and stamped his superiority in tonightās semifinal, dashing the hopes of home shuttler Richie Duta Richardo to win 21-14, 21-13 in a 42 minutes duel.
China stamped their superiority by having players in all five finals tomorrow. Last year, China were only in three of the finals ā menās singles, menās doubles and mixed doubles.
It will be an all-Chinese finale in the womenās singles, with Chinaās Yin Yi Qing stopping Sarunrak Vitidsarnās run in todayās semifinals. Yin dumped the Thai top seed 21-19, 21-12 in 35 minutes to set up a clash against compatriot and third seed Xu Wen Jing.
Xu stormed into the finals with a commanding display to down Malaysiaās second-seed shuttler Siti Zulaikha 21-17, 21-15.
The menās doubles finals are expected to be an interesting affair with Malaysian top seed pair Kang Khai Xing/Aaron Tai set for a final clash against fifth seed Hu Ye Kuan/Lin Xiang Yi of China.
Kang/Aaron produced another solid display to defeat Chinese Taipeiās Chen Hung Min/Tsai Cheng Han 21-15, 21-10 while Hu/Lin downed compatriot Chen Jun Ting/Liu Jun Rong 25-23, 21-17 in todayās semifinal.
The womenās doubles finale will see a Korean-Japanese battle with Chen Fan Shu Tian/Liu Jia Yue emerging as the favourites as they take on Kim Min Ji/Yeon Soo Yeon.
Chen/Liu however faced stiff resistance from Malaysian pair Ong Xin Yee/Carmen Ting before winning 17-21, 21-15, 23-21in a marathon 69 minutes. Kim/Yeon were also given a tough time by second seed Ririna Hiramoto/Ayaka Tamaki before taking the match 15-21, 21-17, 21-18.
Darrell Aurelius/Bernadine Anindya Wardana brought cheers for the local fans as they stormed into the mixed doubles final, set to clash against top favourites Lin Xiang Yi/Liu Yuan Yuan tomorrow.
The Indonesian pair eased past Korean pair Lee Hyeong Woo/Cheon Hye In 21-9, 21-18 while Lin/Liu downed compatriot Wang Zi Heng/Cao Zi Han 21-18, 21-19 in todayās semifinals.
Finals:
Menās Singles: Hu Zhe An (CHN) vs Yoon Ho Seong (KOR)
Womenās Singles: Yin Yi Qing (CHN) vs Xu Wen Jing (CHN)
Menās Doubles: Kang Khai Xing/Aaron Tai (MAS) vs Hu Yer Kuan/Lin Xiang Yi (CHN)
Womenās Doubles: Chen Fan Shu Tian/Liu Jia Yue (CHN) vs Kim Min Ji/Yeon Soo Yeon (KOR)
Mixed Doubles: Darren Aurelius/Bernadine Anindya Wardana (INA) vs Lin Xiang Yi/Liu Yuan Yuan (CHN)
