The year 2005 is special in USA’s badminton history.
That was when USA achieved its only gold medal at the BWF World Championships, the historic event happening on home soil.
Incidentally, that was the year Ben Lee, 1992 Olympian, started his badminton academy, then called Golden Gate (now Synergy). That was also the year his daughter Allison Lee and her first — and current — partner Francesca Corbett were born.
Eighteen years Howard Bach and Tony Gunawan competed in the World Championships final, another USA pair – Allison and Corbett — will feature in the final of the BWF World Junior Championships 2023.
Allison Lee (left) and Francesca Corbett celebrate
Corbett and Lee, having already assured themselves of USA’s first medal at the World Juniors by making the semifinals, weren’t satiated by what they had achieved and went a step further. In the semifinals they absorbed the best that top seeds Mei Sudo/Nao Yamakita threw at them, and eventually coasted to a 18-21 21-16 21-13 victory.
“It feels so surreal, you know,” said Lee. “We really wanted this our whole badminton career. We’ve made it to the final, and I think we’re even going to go past that. We’re going to try our best to take the gold home.
“At the close… I was a bit pumped up, because I could hear everyone in the crowd. My coach told me to calm down, and I could hear my dad and my uncle in the stands, so I thought I had to win it for them, for USA.”
The Japanese won a close first game, but once Corbett and Lee found their rhythm, they had the better of the exchanges.
Lee and Corbett dominated the match after losing the opening game
“We were nervous in the first game and we were able to turn it around,” said Corbett. “In the end I’m glad we could control our nerves; we talked to each other and our coach (Shlok Ramchandran) a lot and that really helped.
“It felt so amazing to have the USA crowd behind us, cheering ‘Go USA’… it was crazy, we’ve never experienced it before.”
Despite the enormity of the moment, Lee’s father Ben was composed.
“I’m very happy for her, of course, with all the hard work she’s put in. But I think it means more than just for us; it means a lot to USA badminton and I hope that the result here will inspire other US players to follow suit and start taking more interest in playing and getting more involved.”
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