Francesca Corbett and Allison Lee broke through a barrier by winning USA’s first-ever medal at the BWF World Junior Championships.
That they did it on home turf made it all the more special for the third seeds. In the semifinals on Friday they fought back from a game down against Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Yi En/Lin Yu-Hao: 17-21 21-17 21-17, assuring themselves of a medal.
“We are happy. Lot of satisfaction and a little bit relieved!” said Corbett.
“We were nervous because it was the medal match and I’m glad we were able to pull through and control our nerves at the end.”
“After the first game I had to snap myself back into the game because it wasn’t over yet,” said Lee. “We fell down but we knew we could come back and take it.
“We’re very happy but one step at a time. We had played them before but we knew that they were going to fight back. The coach behind us and with the home crowd, that helped us and we finally pulled through.”
Corbett and Lee with their coach Shlok Ramchandran
Lee said while they were assured of bronze, the task they’d set out for themselves at the beginning of the tournament was gold.
“Our job here is to get the gold medal, so our job is not done yet. For a few years now we’ve been eyeing the gold medal, since we were little. This is our last year and we want to end it as strong as possible.”
Japan booked three spots in the semifinals, with top seeds Mei Sudo/Nao Yamakita taking on Corbett/Lee, while in the other half of the draw, Maya Taguchi/Aya Tamaki face compatriots Ririna Hiramoto/Riko Kiyose.
Highlights
China’s Zhu Yi Jun, defending champion in men’s doubles and mixed doubles, remained in the hunt to retain both his titles.
Malaysia have two pairs in action on semifinals day. Mixed doubles fourth seeds Low Han Chen/Chong Jie Yu take on top seeds Zhu Yi Jun/Huang Ke Xin, while in men’s doubles, Bryan Jeremy Goonting/Aaron Tai face Chinese Taipei’s Lai Po Yu/Tsai Fu Cheng.
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