China were impeccable on the concluding day of the YONEX SUNRISE BWF World Junior Championships 2025, winning all three finals they featured in – including the men’s singles, with Liu Yang Ming Yu upstaging favourite Moh. Zaki Ubaidillah.
The other winners on the day were Thailand’s Anyapat Phichitpreechasak in women’s singles and Korea’s Lee Hyeong Woo/Cheon Hye In in the mixed.
China’s performance on Sunday was in sharp contrast to the previous day, having won three of seven semifinals. In the finals there was simply no hint of self-doubt or unsteadiness, with all their contenders on top of their game even under pressure.
Liu Yang Ming Yu
Liu’s victory over Ubaidillah was illustrative of how thoroughly prepared the Chinese were for the big day. Liu was off like a shot in the opening game; the Indonesian, on the other hand, struggled to find rhythm and consistency. Ubaidillah did raise some glimpses of a fightback when he surged from a big deficit in the second to level at 10-all. One wayward shot shifted the momentum the other way, and Liu needed no second invitation as he slammed the door on the Indonesian with a 15-10 15-11 victory, and then enclosed his coach Chen Long in a bear hug.
That was the second gold for China after they had edged Malaysia in the women’s doubles, with Tan Ke Xuan and Wei Yue Yue holding off Low Zi Yu/Noraqilah Maisarah 15-13 19-17. The Malaysians were close to taking the contest to a decider with two game points, but both times the Chinese upped their level and gave no openings. For Low, it was her second successive silver medal at the World Juniors.
China then wrapped it up in style in the men’s doubles, Chen Jun Ting and Liu Jun Rong countering the best that Korea’s Cho Hyeong Woo/Lee Hyeong Woo could throw their way. The attacking Koreans exhausted their arsenal in the first game, and when Chen/Liu dialled up the pressure in the second, the Koreans couldn’t keep up.
Lee Hyeong Woo could take solace in the gold he’d won in the mixed doubles earlier with Cheon Hye In; the Koreans beat Chinese Taipei’s Hung Bing Fu/Chou Yun An 15-9 11-15 15-10.
Home Hopes Dashed
Anyapat
All the omens were good for India in the only final they featured in. Saina Nehwal had won India’s first and only gold medal the last time the World Juniors was hosted in this country; 17 years hence, Tanvi Sharma looked set to replicate that feat.
Sharma had barely done a thing wrong in her semifinal victory, but in the final against Thailand’s Phichitpreechasak, the flow and touch were missing. The Indian made far too many errors to trouble the Thai in the opening game, but she appeared to redeem herself with a strong start in the second. The Thai however was equal to the task, for she anticipated Sharma’s deceptive strokes brilliantly, and countered them with some unplayable shots of her own.
Once the Thai caught up at 8, Sharma started to falter. With her 28-minute victory, Phichitpreechasak joined her compatriots Ratchanok Intanon and Kunlavut Vitidsarn as a singles winner of the World Junior Championships.
What They Said
“Me and (coach) Chen Long wanted this championship because we lost the Asian Juniors. So we prepared very hard for this; the aim was to win this. That’s why we were so excited when I won.” – Liu Yang Ming Yu
“Today I was unable to find rhythm; I wasn’t comfortable and I was making unforced errors. She was reading my shots; I played many deceptive shots but she anticipated them. Of course I’m happy I won silver on my home ground; it means a lot to me.” – Tanvi Sharma
“We never felt pressure; we felt a bit excited after our teammates had won the earlier two finals. So we wanted to finish the day with another gold for China.” – Liu Jun Rong
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