PETALING JAYA: It was supposed to be the biggest moment of his junior career but pint-sized Soong Joo Ven failed in his bid to become the country’s second Asian junior boys’ singles champion – on a day when China ended empty-handed for the first time in the history of the competition yesterday.
The 17-year-old Joo Ven went down 13-21, 20-22 to the higher ranked Kento Momota of Japan in a 34-minute final in the Asian Junior Badminton Championships in Gimcheon, South Korea.
Despite the defeat, Joo Ven can still walk tall for trying to emulate the feat of Zulfadli Zulkifli, who won the title last year.
A match too many: Soong Joo Ven lost to Japan’s Kento Momota.
Joo Ven is only the fourth player to reach the final after Mohd Arif Abdul Latif, Iskandar Zulkar-nain Zainuddin and Zulfadli.
On his return, the Selangor lad will rush off to Pahang to join Misbun Ramdan Misbun for the Malaysia Games (Sukma).
Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) junior programme coordinator Hau Kim Tho said not many had given Joo Ven a chance but he defied the odds to reach the final.
“Joo Ven found the opening game a challenge but he gave a good fight before going down in the second game,” said Kim Tho.
“Both shuttlers showed determination but the more experienced and physically stronger Kento held the upper hand.”
The 18-year-old Kento ended Japan’s six-year wait for a title after Kenichi Tago’s success in 2006.
Before the Asian Juniors, Joo Ven showed promise by winning the Thailand International Satellite tournament and the Under-18 100Plus National Grand Prix Finals.
Meanwhile, China went home with nothing to show when they failed to win a single title after the defeats of Yu Xiaohan-Huang Yaqiong and Wang Yilu-Huang Dongping in the girls’ doubles and mixed doubles finals respectively.
Except for 2001 when China did not take part, they have always won at least two titles since the tournament’s inception in 1997.
发表于 30-5-2012 01:24 AM
发表于 30-5-2012 10:36 PM
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？ 17岁，2012亚青赛男单亚军
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