Francesca Corbett and Allison Lee, one of the standout pairs of the last two weeks, believe they have a point to prove.
“The US has never been taken seriously at the top level, so we want to show that we are here for a fight and we’re not going to back down,” said Corbett, after the women’s doubles third seeds beat Denmark’s Sofie Rojkjaer/Maria Hojlund Tommerup to make the quarterfinals of the BWF World Junior Championships 2023. Corbett and Lee are the only USA players left in the quarterfinals. A win on Friday will guarantee them a medal.
“We are happy with the win. It feels great, but we’re hungry for more, we aren’t satisfied yet,” said Corbett. “We want to win and show everybody that we are at the top level.”
Francesca Corbett (left) and Allison Lee
Her partner Allison, daughter of former USA international and 1992 Olympian Ben Lee, added that playing on home turf had a special meaning.
“There are so many countries here watching, so I want to put on a really good performance, and just enjoy my time on court.
“The way we played the team event really boosted our confidence because we had some pretty good wins. We had one tough loss but that pushes us to do even harder. We aren’t finished yet.”
Another USA women’s doubles pair, Chloe Ho/Ella Lin, started promisingly in their pre-quarterfinals against seventh seeds Ong Xin Yee/Carmen Ting of Malaysia, but couldn’t sustain the challenge, going down 15-21 21-7 21-11.
Corbett/Lee are the only non-Asian pair left in the draw, and will face Yi En Hsieh/Lin Yu Hao of Chinese Taipei.
French pair Elsa Jacob/Camille Pognante put up a great show against Ririna Hiramoto/Riko Kiyose in one of the most engaging matches of the day, with the Japanese eventually quelling their challenge, 23-25 21-15 21-15 in an hour.
Highlights
Top seed Alex Lanier had a comfortable time against Thailand’s Wongsup Wongsup-In, making the quarterfinals with a 21-13 21-11 result.
In the bottom half of the draw, India’s Ayush Shetty, who had upset second seed Eogene Ewe in the second round, progressed to the last eight beating Jamal Rahmat Pandi of the Philippines.
In men’s doubles, fifth seeds Bryan Jeremy Goonting/Aaron Tai entered the quarterfinals, where they face Japan’s Kosuke Kakuta/Kaito Sugawara.
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