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Chinese Juniors Sweep Badminton Titles
China completed a clean sweep of six titles in the World Junior Badminton Championships which concluded November 12 in Guangzhou after Bao Chunlai beat Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro for the men's singles title.
Roared on by a near-capacity home crowd, fourth-seeded Bao from Hunan province, raced to a 7-1, 7-5 lead. After conceding the third set to the fifth seed, who eliminated Chinese second seed Zhu Weilun and Malaysia's No. 9 seed Lee Chong Wei on his way to the final, Bao rallied from 0-4 down to secure the fourth 7-5 and the title.
"I was impatient and anxious in the third set," said the 17-year-old left-hander. "But the enthusiastic crowd made me excited and gave me strength. They played a big part in my win."
Bao's coach Wu Baiqiang was surprised by Bao's outstanding performance in the final.
"I did not expect him to play so well," Wu said. "He uses his head on the court."
Kuncoro, the only non-Chinese player in Sunday's five individual finals, attributed Bao's success to his brilliant drop shots.
"He played quite well and he was really good at drop shots," the Asian junior runner-up said. "But I think I can beat him in our next encounter."
In the mixed doubles final, second-seeded Asian junior runners-up Sang Yang and Zhang Yawen upset top seeds Zheng Bo and Wei Yili 7-3, 7-0, 8-6, revenging their loss to the latter in the final of the Asian junior championships in July.
Women's singles second seed Wei Yan, the Asian junior silver medalist from China, defeated her teammate Wang Rong, who ousted top seed and Asian junior champion Yu Jin in Saturday's semi-finals, in straight sets for the loss of five points to win the title.
In two other all-Chinese finals, Zhang Yawen/Wei Yili rallied past Liu Yujia/Zhao Tingting 4-7, 7-2, 7-0, 7-1 to win the women's doubles crown before Sang Yang/Zheng Bo triumphed in the men's doubles final with a 7-5, 7-5, 2-7, 7-5 victory over Xie Zhongbo and Cao Chen.
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