Taiwanese duo win gold at junior championships

Taiwanese shuttlers Chen Ping-hsuan and Lee Wei-ting on Saturday won the men’s doubles title at the World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo, securing Taiwan’s first gold medal in the event.

The top-seeded Taiwanese pair defeated Japan’s Mahiro Oku and Masato Yamashiro in straight games in the final, winning 15-10, 15-9.

Chen and Lee took an early 7-2 lead in the opening game with aggressive play. Although their Japanese opponents narrowed the gap to two points, the Taiwanese duo capitalized on their opponents’ service errors to score three consecutive points and take the game 15-10.

Taiwan’s Chen Ping-hsuan, left, and Lee Wei-ting pose for a photograph with their gold medals after winning the men’s doubles title at the World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo on Saturday.

Photo: Lin Chun-yung via CNA

The second game remained closely contested until the score was tied at 6-6. Chen and Lee then pulled ahead with a five-point run before closing out the match 15-9.

The Taiwanese pair did not drop a single game throughout the tournament.

Their coach, Lin Chun-yung, yesterday said that the two players were mentally mature and possessed well-rounded skills.

Although they had partnered for only a little more than a year, in July they won silver at the Badminton Asia Junior Championships, Lin said.

He said he had set a goal for the duo to win a medal at the World Junior Championships, but the pair had exceeded his expectations by taking gold.

He praised their game awareness and ability to dominate the opening and middle stages of the matches.

However, he said that this was the first edition of the junior tournament to use a 15-point game format, adding that the outcome might have been different under the traditional 21-point format.