Singles second seeds Ikhsan Leonardo Imanuel and Phittayaporn Chaiwan exited the LI-NING BWF World Junior Championships 2018 suffering straight-games losses in the fourth round today in Markham, Canada.
Rumbay, the Men’s Singles second seed from Indonesia, crashed out in just 35 minutes to Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong (featured image), 21-13 21-5. Thailand’s Phittayaporn Chaiwan provided more resistance but couldn’t avoid a similar fate as she went down to Denmark’s Line Christophersen, 21-19 21-18.
The Dane looked far more confident today than in yesterday’s third round against Ashwathi Pillai, who had three match points but failed to convert. Christophersen weathered the strokeful attack of the Thai and grabbed the opportunities that came her way.
“I wasn’t as nervous as yesterday because she (Chaiwan) was the favourite to win the match,” said Christophersen. “I’m happy today with my game, I played much better compared to yesterday. I went in
and played free. She has so many good strokes, put a lot of pressure on me and I had to be ready for her attack. I’m really happy to be in the quarterfinals.”
Christophersen takes on Malaysia’s Eoon Qi Xuan, who beat Indonesia’s Putri Kusuma Wardani 21-19 21-10.
Three Chinese, top seed Wang Zhiyi – fourth seed Wei Yaxin and fifth seed Zhou Meng – two Koreans – Lee So Yul and Park Ga Eun – and two Malaysians – Eoon Qi Xuan and Goh Jin Wei – joined Christophersen in the quarterfinals.
Youth Olympic Games champion Goh Jin Wei was businesslike in dealing with Canada’s Wendy Zhang, coming away victorious at 21-11 21-10. She will take on Korea’s Lee So Yul, who prevailed over Japan’s sixth seed Hirari Mizui 21-18 21-18.
Malaysia had a good day overall. Apart from Goh Jin Wei and Eoon Qi Xuan in Women’s Singles, Ng Tze Yong and Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin (Men’s Singles), Chia Wei Jie/Toh Ee Wei and Choon Hon Jian/Pearly Tan Koong Le (Mixed Doubles) and Pearly Tan Koong Le/Toh Ee Wei (Women’s Doubles) made the quarterfinals.
“I was very nervous in the beginning but it got better as the match went on,” said Sadikin. “As we both play the same kind of steady game, my coach had instructed me to stay close to him and open up only when an opportunity arose.”
Sadikin takes on India’s Lakshya Sen, who struggled initially against Chinese Taipei’s Chen Shiau Cheng before making it home in three, 15-21 21-17 21-14.
“I was finding it hard to control the shuttle from one end,” said Sen. “Once I got used to it, I was able to dictate the rallies. I’m happy with my form and I’m confident.”
In other matches, Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn progressed into the quarterfinal for a meeting with Indonesia’s Alberto Alvin Yulianto, while third seed Li Shifeng (China) outclassed Korea’s Choi Ji Hoon and faces the player who most troubled him at the Youth Olympic Games, Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen.
Men’s Doubles fourth seeds Christopher Grimley/Matthew Grimley (Scotland) could not maintain their momentum after a quick first game win over Thailand’s Thanawin Madee/Wachirawit Sothon and went down 12-21 21-18 21-14. Also exiting the tournament were seventh seeds Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin (Indonesia), who were outplayed in a thriller by Chinese Taipei’s Cheng Kai Wen/Lu Chih-Wei 21-18 20-22 21-18.
Danish Women’s Doubles duo Amalie Magelund/Freja Ravn scored a thrilling 21-15 5-21 22-20 victory over Korea’s Jeong Na Eun/Park Ga Eun and were rewarded with a meeting against top seeds Liu Xuanxuan/Xia Yuting (China).
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