Lin Guipu Celebrates Birthday with World Men's Junior Title

ALOR SETAR (Kedah,Malaysia), April 19 (Bernama) -- Lin Guipu of China celebrates his 21st birthday on Monday with the men's singles world junior badminton title at the Sultan Abdul Halim Stadium here Friday. The unseeded Lin shocked his compatriot and world's number one shuttler, Shi Yuqi 20-22, 21-8, 21-18 in a gruelling all-Chinese men's singles final at the BWF World Junior Championship 2014. "During the match, I set up my mind not to think too much on winning and becoming champion. Otherwise, I think I cannot reach this level. "Actually, I'm very happy because China won all the men's singles category. Even if I lost the match, I'm still happy. I just try my best and play the game," he told reporters after the final. Japanese ace shuttler Akane Yamaguchi had to dig deep into her reserves to overcome China's He Bingjiao 14-21, 21-18, 21-13 in the women's singles match. In the eagerly awaited clash, Akane lost the first set 14-21, largely due to unforced errors but came back into the game to win 21-18 and forced the match to go into a deciding set. Akane, 16, then moved into top gear in the third and easily disposed Bin Jiao 21-13 for her second world junior title this year. "In the first set, I was surprised that I didn't play well and even lost control of the ball. "But, I became more focused in the second set. For me, today's match was as easy as previous ones," she said. Meanwhile, China also lifted the mixed doubles and women's doubles titles. Mixed pair Huang Kaixiang/Chen Qingchen defeated Indonesia Muhammad Rian Ardianto/Rosyita Eka Putri Sari 21-12,21-17 in 30 minutes while women's pair Chen Qingchen/Jia Yi Fan also beat Indonesian pair Apriani Rahayu/Rosyita Eka Putri Sari 21-11, 21-14. In men's doubles, Thailand's pair Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Ketlen Kittinupong dashed Japanese Masahide Nakata/Katsuki Tamate 21-16, 21-18 to clinch the world men's doubles junior title. -- BERNAMA