Bilbao: Girls’ doubles No. 2 seeds Sayaka Hobara/Nami Matsuyama of Japan survived a brutal examination against No. 1 seeds Du Yue/Xu Ya of China in the World Junior Championships finals, before emerging victorious with 25-23, 19-21, 21-14 in a marathon 84 minutes battle on Sunday. Hobara/Matsuyama’s victory was also a blow out to China which otherwise would give the badminton powerhouse a clean sweep to all five titles at the 2016 World Junior Championships.
China has already guaranteed the mixed doubles title coming into Sunday, where No. 1 seeds He Jiting/Du Yue and compatriots No. 7 seeds Zhou Haodong/Hu Yuxiang have set up an all-Chinese final. In an easier than expected match, He Jiting/Du Yue won the mixed doubles crown by overcoming Zhou/Hu 21-13, 21-15 in just 29 minutes.
No. 2 seed Chen Yufei was in imperious form when she needed only 41 minutes to defeat Thailand’s No. 3 seed Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-14, 21-17 to lift the girls’ singles title.
China’s Sun Feixiang who has been dominant throughout the whole 2016 World Junior Championships, hit top form in the boys’ singles final with a straight sets victory Indonesia’s Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo 21-19, 21-12. Sun became the next boys’ singles winner from China after Lin Guipu last won it in 2014.
Meanwhile, unseeded South Korean boys’ doubles pair Lee Hong-Sub/Lim Su-Min failed to keep their upset streak on Sunday when their defense simply couldn’t find a solution to China’s No. 1 seed Han Chengkai and Zhou Haodong, losing to the Chinese pair 17-21, 14-21 in 36 minutes.
The last time China has won four titles in World Junior Championships was in 2002, where Chen Jing, Jiang Yanjiao, Du Jing/Rong Lu, Guo Zhengdong/Yu Yang won the boys’ singles, girls’ singles, girls’ doubles, and mixed doubles trophies respectively.
