Defending champions Korea, unlucky to be in the same group as China, were knocked out of title contention at the BWF World Junior Mixed Team Championships 2023 by their powerhouse rivals.
The result relegated Korea to competing for the overall placings between 9 and 16.
The other big result of the day was USA’s 3-2 defeat of Denmark, in a contest between the second-placed teams of groups G and H. USA, Korea, Germany and Hong Kong China will now contend for the 9th place overall.
While USA’s defeat of Denmark was not technically an upset – both were seeded 9/16 – it was still a morale-boosting win for the hosts considering that Denmark are traditional powerhouses.
Ella Lin gave USA a 2-1 lead
Ryan Ma/Veronica Yang gave USA the lead in mixed doubles, followed by Ella Lin in women’s singles. Denmark levelled both deficits, making it 2-all, before Francesca Corbett/Allison Lee saw the hosts through by winning the women’s doubles.
“It’s very satisfying,” said Allison Lee. “Denmark is very strong, physically and mentally, so this is a very good win.”
“I think it’s great that USA Badminton have been able to show our potential,” added her partner.
China Beat Korea
Xu Wen Jing of China
In the final tie of Group A, China sealed their place by winning the first three matches. Korea however did not go down without a fight, giving respectability to the score by taking the men’s doubles and women’s doubles.
Only the top-ranked teams of the eight groups remain in the hunt for the title, with the remaining teams fighting for overall placings.
In the quarterfinals, China face fellow Asian power Japan, who maintained their clean slate in Group B with a 5-0 result over Canada. In the other quarterfinal of the top half, Malaysia face India; the bottom half of the draw will see Indonesia take on France and Chinese Taipei against Thailand.
Thailand Overcome USA
Thailand were pushed hard by USA in the final group playoff for the quarterfinals. Ryan Ma/Allison Lee put USA ahead in the mixed doubles, but Thailand recovered to take the tie 3-1. Allison Lee returned with Francesca Corbett and the women’s doubles duo reduced the deficit for the home team beating Hathaithip Mijad/Patida Srisawat 19-21 21-9 21-19.
“It feels really good,” said Allison Lee, who won both her matches. “We started off strong with the first win. But the doubles felt really good because we wanted to show that USA can be strong.”
The USA pair were happy to edge the Thais after their opponents pulled close from 12-18 down.
“We’ve been playing the senior circuit for a bit, so we have just that teeny bit of experience to keep our composure and we know what we need in those moments,” said Corbett.
Day 3 Results (9 to 16 placings):
Korea bt Singapore 3-0; Germany bt England 3-1; Hong Kong China bt Estonia 3-0; USA bt Denmark 3-2
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