Indonesia’s Chiara Marvella Handoyo pulled off an escape act against defending champion Tomoka Miyazaki, saving three match points to make the semifinals of the BWF World Junior Championships 2023.
Miyazaki looked well in control at 20-17 in the third game, but stubborn play by the Indonesian and her own nerves saw the Japanese fritter away the advantage with a slew of errors.
“I just tried my best when she had those match points, and I played safe, because I could sense that she was nervous,” said the Indonesian after the 21-14 18-21 22-20 match that went 80 minutes.
Tomoka Miyazaki
Handoyo had fallen in a close three-game battle to Miyazaki at the Asia Junior Championships in July.
“I changed my tactics from the last match,” Handoyo said. “I tried not to keep it at the back, and played with more shot variety and a lot more close to the net. Her overhead shots are very difficult to handle.
“I’m happy to win a medal, it was beyond my expectations.”
Handoyo faces China’s Lin Ran Huang, who overcame Italy’s Gianna Stiglich 21-16 21-14.
The other semifinal will see China’s Xu Wen Jing against second seed Pitchamon Opatniputh of Thailand.
Indonesia have a semifinalist in men’s singles too, with Alwi Farhan dominating China’s Wang Zi Jun in a straight-games defeat; up next will be India’s Ayush Shetty, who had a similarly smooth passage against Japan’s Yudai Okimoto.
Alex Lanier
In the top half, favourite Alex Lanier (France) beat China’s Zhang Ning and takes on third seed Hu Zhe An, also of China.
“It’s always hard when you play a Chinese player because they are strong the whole match,” said Lanier. “So mentally it’s hard; I need to stay focussed the whole match. That was the main focus, to keep discipline and stay stable because it can be hard if he wins four points in a row.
“After playing the Japanese (Daigo Tanioka in the Round of 32) I felt dead, and then I felt I recovered well, so I felt good on court today. Physically I’m not fresh because it’s a long tournament, but I feel that the work we did before the Worlds didn’t work before the team event but today and maybe tomorrow it will work. So everything is better and I feel more confident, and it’s good to see that my physical part of the game I can reach a high intensity, so it’s also good mentally.”
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