YONEX-SUNRISE BWF WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS 2009 - Ratchanok makes history!

Ratchanok’s win was the icing on the cake for Thailand who earlier saw the mixed doubles pair of Maneepong Jongjit-Rodjana Chuthabunditkul win the first ever gold medal for the Thais at the expense of Indonesia’s Angga Pratama-Destiara Haris Della.

Maneepong-Rodjana beat the Indonesians 21-19, 14-21, 21-17 in 38 minutes.

"It is an honour to win the first ever crown for Thailand. It was a close match and it could have gone either way. But I’m happy that we won to give Thailand its first ever gold medal in the World Juniors,” said Maneepong.

Thailand were already assured of the gold medal in the girl’s singles as it was an all-Thai affair but what was unexpected was the fact that Ratchanok beat her more established compatriot Porntip Buranaorasertsuk.

Porntip, a regular in the Open tournaments, lost 21-15, 21-23, 21-10.

“I never expected to win. However, I am proud that I’m the youngest gold medallist in the World Junior Championships,” said Ratchanok.

“This win will spur me to work harder and improve my game, and hopefully win more titles in the future.”

Ratchanok joins an elite few players who have denied China the girl’s singles crown. Last year, India’s Saina Nehwal won the title in Pune. Prior to that, China were only denied the title in 1992 (Kristin Junita from Indonesia) and 2004 (Cheng Shao-Chieh from Chinese Taipei).

In the boy’s singles, home fans were left disappointed when Iskandar Zulkarnain’s challenge fizzled out against China’s Tian Houwei.

The 21-9, 21-18 defeat gave China their first gold medal in the individual competition before Tang Jinhua-Xia Huan, the top seeds, proved too good for Indonesia’s Andini Suci Rizki Andini-Nuraidah Tiara Rosali, also winning in straight games 21-9, 21-18.

Indonesia’s nightmare continued in the boy’s doubles when Berry Anggriawan-Muhammad Ulinnuha were also beaten after coming within a point of clinching the title.

But in amazing late rally from Kah Ming-Yao Han saw the Malaysians come back from 16-20 down in the third game to win the title 19-21, 21-12, 23-21.

“We were not thinking about winning. All we wanted to was to win one point at a time,” said Kah Ming.

“And in the end, I believe, that is what made the difference.”

The 2010 edition of the World Junior Championships will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico on 18-25 April.

Posted by Lucas Liau on 12:30 PM. Filed under News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0