Jayce
Local hopes Sofie Chong and Lucy Dodd emerged victorious at the 2024 YONEX All England Junior Badminton Championships.
Over four days at the University of Birmingham, some of the world’s top under-19 badminton players competed in the junior division of the world’s oldest badminton championship.
In the girls’ doubles event, England’s Chong and Dodd defeated the top seeds, Misha Omer Khan and Tabia Khan of the UAE, in the deciding set.
After a bye in the first round, Chong and Dodd overcame fellow British pair Ayushi Dularia and Georgiana Kintels with scores of 21-11 21-7.
They then faced the second seeds, Scotland’s Ishbel MacAllister and Brooke Stock, winning in straight sets and meeting another top-seeded team.
In a three-set battle, they defeated the third seeds, Wales’ Saffron Morris and England’s Carly Stevenson, with scores of 21-14 15-21 21-19 to reach the final.
In the final, Chong and Dodd showcased their courage, holding off Khan and Khan’s counterattacks, winning the first set, only for the UAE pair to fight back and force a decider.
In the final set, Chong and Dodd remained composed, securing the victory with scores of 22-20 15-21 21-16 to win the girls’ doubles title.
Misha Omer Khan also won the girls’ singles title on Sunday, being one of the two players to reach both finals in Birmingham.
The third seed defeated America’s Suneli Chintalapati in the final with scores of 21-19 21-8, ensuring she left England with both a gold and a silver medal.
The UAE team also claimed two podium spots, with Bharat Rati and Tabia Khan, as top seeds, winning the mixed doubles title.
This pair lost only one set on their way to the top podium, defeating Danish pair Aske Romer and Jasmine Willis with scores of 21-16 14-21 21-13 in the semifinals.
In the final against the eighth-seeded combination of England’s James Song and Poland’s Kaya Ciorcikowska, Rati and Khan dominated, winning with scores of 21-14 21-7.
England’s Dillon Chong, who lost in last year’s mixed doubles final, reached the men’s doubles semifinals this year but lost with Swiss partner Zhi Lun Ong.
They were defeated 21-15 21-18 by Danish pair Aske Romer and Salomon Adam Thomsen, who eventually finished as runners-up after losing to the American duo Arden Guan and Stanley Xing with scores of 11-21 21-16 21-15.
Second seed Tiago Berenguer of Portugal staged a comeback in the men’s singles final to defeat India’s Sugi Sai Bala Singha Gopinath Singh, claiming the title.
After losing the first set, Berenguer made a strong recovery to force a decider, eventually winning with scores of 11-21 21-14 21-5.
Berenguer entered the final undefeated and withstood the challenge to emerge as the champion.
