USA’s Ella Lin ensured Pan Am’s presence on quarterfinals day at the BWF World Junior Championships beating Thai second seed Sirada Roongpiboonsopit.
The Thai had picked up an ankle injury in the previous round, but kept up the pressure on Lin with a stubborn performance, stretching the match to a third game. Lin eventually surged past her, 21-11 15-21 21-15, taking her place in the quarterfinals where she faces China’s Yuan An Qi.
“It was tiring. She was injured, so I thought I should take advantage and move her around,” said Lin, who had caused one of the surprises of the tournament beating China’s Xu Wen Jing in the opening round.
“It means a lot to win, because I think I’m the first American to be in the quarterfinals of the individual event. I’m really honoured. I prepared by watching my opponents’ live streams. My parents are here, they call my coaches back home for advice.”
Her opponent, who had fought through tears in her previous match, said the pain had been hard to manage: “I’d twisted my ankle yesterday. I wasn’t warmed up in the first game because of the injury, but in the second game I felt okay. The pain returned in the third game. I’m disappointed because I had trained very hard for this.”
Spain’s Daniel Franco (left) and Ruben Garcia.
The home crowd had cause to celebrate, when local pair Daniel Franco/Ruben Garcia made the men’s doubles quarterfinals beating Ukraine’s Volodymyr Koluzaiev/Nikita Yeromenko 21-14 21-13.
“We played so good,” said Garcia. “It’s an honour to play the quarterfinals, I think we can win a medal.”
The Spanish pair were the only European pair left in men’s doubles, after top seeds Jakob Houe/Christian Faust Kjaer of Denmark and David Eckerlin/Simon Krax of Germany fell.
Highlights
France’s Malya Hoareau (right) and Camille Pognante
♦ Malya Hoareau/Camille Pognante will fly the French flag in the women’s doubles quarterfinals after beating Denmark’s Maria Hojlund Tommerup/Kathrine Wang 21-18 21-16.
♦ Men’s singles top seed Alex Lanier was taken the distance by Indonesia’s Bodhi Ratana Teja Gotama, and will next take on Chinese Taipei’s Kuo Kuan Lin.
♦ Denmark had some good news in mixed doubles, with Hjalte Johansen/Emma Irring BraÜner beating Japan’s Seiya Inoue/Kokona Ishikawa 21-17 21-16.
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