It was a show of superiority by China who made a clean sweep in the Badminton Asia Junior Championships 2024, winning all five titles at stake on the final day of competition at Gor Among Raga in Yogyakarta. It was also the fourth time since 1997 that China had won all five titles in Asia’s junior premier competition. China had previously won all titles in 2000, 2015 and 2016 with names like Lin Dan and Shi Yu Qi. Last year, China won three titles, missing out in the women’s singles and women’s doubles. Top seed Hu Zhe An, who had an impressive record of winning all his men’s singles matches in straight games, dropped a game today against Korean Yoon Ho Seong. The Chinese top young star however came back from a game down to beat the Korean 13-21, 21-14, 21-14 in a marathon one-hour battle to clinch his second successive title in the championships. Yoon played well to put up a strong fight in the early part of the match and looked set to spoil the party for China. But Hu was quick to change his gameplay in the second and third games, playing aggressively and leaving no chance for the Korean. Earlier, in an all-Chinese women’s singles final, Xu Wen Jing, last year’s semifinalist, started off the party for China with a comfortable win over compatriot Yin Yi Qing 21-13, 21-15 in just 33 minutes. The biggest upset of the day came in the men’s doubles, where Kang Khai Xing/Aaron Tai stepped onto the courts as the heavy favourites. However, the Malaysian top pair, currently the No.1 pair in the world junior ranking, surprisingly succumbed to Hu Yu Kean/Lin Xiang Yi in straight games of 13-21-13-21 in just 33 minutes. The Chinese fifth seed, this year’s German Junior champion, was aggressive throughout the match, adopting an attacking style of play which rattled the Malaysian pair struggled to respond effectively. Future women’s doubles star, Fan Shu Tian/Lia Jia Yue, then made it three in a row for China, playing confidently to down Korean pair Kim Min Jin/ Yeon Seo Yeon in straight games of 21-15, 21-15 in 48 minutes. It was then left to Indonesia’s mixed doubles pair Darren Aurelius/Bernadine Anindya Wardana to prevent China from a clean sweep and give the home fans reasons to cheer. But Lin Xiang Yi/Liu Yuan Yuan proved to be the better pair, beating the home pair in another straight game of 21-12, 21-13 to complete a total sweep for China for the fourth time in the history of the tournament. FINAL RESULTS Men’s Singles: Hu Zhe An (CHN) bt Yoon Ho Seong (KOR) 13-21, 21-14, 21-14 Women’s Singles: Xu Wen Jing (CHN) bt Yin Yi Qing (CHN) 21-13, 21-15 Men’s Doubles: Hu Yer Kuan/Lin Xiang Yi (CHN) bt Kang Khai Xing/Aaron Tai (MAS) 21-13, 21-11 Women’s Doubles: Chen Fan Shu Tian/Liu Jia Yue (CHN) bt Kim Min Ji/Yeon Soo Yeon (KOR) 21-11, 21-15 Mixed Doubles:
Lin Xiang Yi/Liu Yuan Yuan (CHN) bt Darren Aurelius/Bernadine Anindya Wardana (INA) 21-12, 21-13
