There was joy and there were tears for Korea and Chinese Taipei in the men’s singles finals in the Badminton Asia Under-17 and Under-15 Junior Championships in Mandalay, Myanmar on Sunday.
Korea celebrated victory in the men’s Under-17 through Jin Yong who won a close fought 35-minute thriller – prevailing 23-21, 21-19 against Chinese Taipei’s Huang Yu-Kai for his first title in his first international Badminton Asia Junior Championships.
Yu-Kai came into the final with a giant-killing reputation of defeating number one seed Ko Shing Hei of Hong Kong China 21-18, 21-7 in the semi-finals on Saturday.
The Under-15 final went to Chinese Taipei’s way with Kuo Kuan Lin clinching the title in another close battle against Korea’s Kim Byung-jae, winning 21-19, 21-18 for both countries to share the spoils.
“This is a good tournament for us…as we had only targetted the quarter-finals or semi-finals to expose our young talent,” said Korea’s head coach Kim Hak-kyun. Badminton Asia
RESULTS (MEN’S SINGLES)
Under-17
Jin Yong (KOR) beat Huang Yu-kai (TPE) 23-21, 21-19
Under-15
Kuo Kuan-lin (TPE) beat Kim Byung-jae (KOR) 21-9, 21-18