Indonesia have a shot at two titles with Alwi Farhan and Chiara Marvella Handoyo making the singles finals at the BWF World Junior Championships 2023.
In Farhan’s way will be China’s Hu Zhe An, while Handoyo takes on Thailand’s ‘Pink’ Pitchamon Opatniputh.
While Handoyo was in control all through her match against China’s Huang Lin Ran, Opatniputh took advantage of some nervous play by Xu Wen Jing, nicking the first game at the very end after trailing throughout. From 13-18 down she won eight of the next nine points, and for a flustered Xu things only got worse from that point on.
Chiara Marvella Handoyo
“I’m so proud of myself, I tried my best and I’ve come into the final,” Opatniputh said.
“In the first game she played very well in the beginning and did not many errors, and I was slow. I played quicker in the second game as my coach told me to keep up the attack without making errors.”
Handoyo, who had upset top seed Tomoka Miyazaki in the quarterfinals after saving three match points, recovered from a poor start in both games to outplay her opponent 21-17 21-19.
“I’m very grateful and happy for this result because my opponent is a very good player,” Handoyo said.
“My biggest challenge was that I was very nervous on court but I could handle it. I had a long match yesterday but I got rest, and the physio helped me recover.
“I never thought I could reach the final. My target was to reach the quarterfinals.”
Farhan versus Hu Zhe An
Alex Lanier went down in a close match
In the men’s singles semifinals, Alwi Farhan had a shaky spell against India’s Ayush Shetty when he was a game and 12-4 up. Shetty levelled at 13, but Farhan composed himself to take the match in straight games.
“I’m feeling so happy but want to focus for tomorrow,” said Farhan. “I was quicker than him and that made me confident about my attack.”
Hu Zhe An upset top seed Alex Lanier in the closest match of the day, 22-20 22-20.
Zhu in Line for Double Defence
China’s Zhu Yi Jun has the opportunity to repeat his double last year by making two finals yet again. Paired with new partners this time, Zhu continued to be the standout player in the semifinals, as he and Ma Shang in men’s doubles and Huang Ke Xin in mixed doubles progressed to the finals with straight-games victories.
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