FOLLOW the HIGHLIGHTS of the BWF World Junior Championships men’s singles final between Sankar Muthusamy and Kuo Kuan Lin, being played in Santander, Spain, on Sunday.

A very difficult match for Sankar Muthusamy. Kuo Kuan Lin of Chinese Taipei has outplayed him with his power game. He never allowed the Indian to take a lead in the match. Sankar, however, becomes the second Indian male shuttler to win BWF World Junior Championships silver after Siril Verma in 2015. Overall, Sankar is the fourth Indian to win silver at the marquee event.

Kuan Lin wins the world junior championships men’s singles tile

A smash down the line and it lands in Sankar’s right. The Indian has no chance as it is so powerful. Kuan Lun screams out his pent-up emotion. He beats Sankar 21-14, 22-20 and becomes the new junior world champion in men’s singles.

Second game: Sankar saves six match points

Sankar saves six match points and makes it 20-20 in the second game. But Kuan Lin makes a comeback in the game and is now on match point. Kuan Lin 21-20 Sankar.

Match point for Kuan Lin

Yet another crosscourt smash from Kuan Lin. It is unreturnable. Kuan Lin is on match point. He lead the second game 20-15.

Second game: Kuan Lin takes 18-13 lead

It is a crosscourt smash from Kuan Lin. He is beating Sankar with his power game. It is 18-13 lead in Kuan Lin’s favour.

Second game: Sankar reduces gap

A clever shot from Sankar. Kuan Lin fails to reach the net from the centre of his court. Sankar just places the shuttle over the net. Sankar 13-15 Kuan Lin

Second game: Kuan Lin races away with lead

Kuan Lin is now six points away from the match point. He is repeatedly beating Sankar with smashes. This time again his shot goes over Sankar’s head. Kuan Lin 15-12 Sankar.

Second game interval: Kuan Lin leads 11-9

Sankar is unable to take lead in the match. Kuan Lin now has 11-9 lead at the second game interval.

Second game: A point for Sankar

For the first time in this match, Sankar finds Kuan Lin grounded. His crosscourt smash lands on Kuan Lin’s right; it is out of his reach.

Second game: Sankar reduces Kuan Lin’s lead

A jump smash from Sankar. Kuan Lin fails to return. It lands again on his left. A point for Sankar. Sankar 7-9 Kuan Lin.

Second game: Kuan Lin takes 9-6 lead

A bad fall for Sankar. He tries to return a drop shot from Kuan Lin and falls on the court. His shot nets. A point for Kuan Lin. Kuan Lin races away with two more points.

Second game: Sankar levels the score 5-5

Sankar makes a comeback in the game with four quick points. His left-handed smash lands on Kuan Lin’s left. He is a right-handed player, so fails to return.

Second game: Point for Sankar

A good rally between Sankar and Kuan Lin. Sankar opens his scoring with a drop shot. Sankar 1-4 Kuan Lin.

Second game: Kuan Lin leads 4-0

Kuan Lin bags four quick points to surge in the second game. He attempts a body smash. Sankar fails to return that. Sankar seems not in his best shape.

Kuan Lin wins first game 21-14

Kuan Lin wins the first game 21-14. He looks so dominating in the match. There are too many mistakes from Sankar. His last shot goes wide and Kuan Lin takes the lead in the final, winning the first game 21-14.

First game: Kuan Lin leads 18-13

Kuan Lin earns five points in smashes, drop and net play. He now has five points lead over Sankar.

First game: Sankar Muthusamy levels the parity 13-13

Three points in a row for Sankar. Kuan Lin again nets his returns. Sankar makes a great comeback in the match and levels the score line.

First game: Kuo Kuan Lin vs Sankar Muthusamy 13-10

Point for Sankar. Kuan Lin goes for a crosscourt smash, but his shot lands wide. Sankar reduces Kuan Lin’s lead to 10-13.

First game: Kuo Kuan Lin vs Sankar Muthusamy 13-9

Two unforced errors from Sankar. He sends his shots wide and out. Kuan Lin surges in the first game 13-9.

First game Interval: Kuo Kuan Lin vs Sankar Muthusamy 11-8

Kuan Lin nets the return. A point for Sankar. Two unforced errors from Kuan Lin means Sankar reduces the gap to 8-10. But Kuan Lin is not leaving much space for the Indian. He increases the lead.

First game: Kuo Kuan Lin vs Sankar Muthusamy 7-4

A jump-smash from Kuan Lin. It goes over Sankar’s head. The Chinese Taipei shuttler increases the lead. It is 7-4 in Kuan Lin’s favour.

First game: Kuo Kuan Lin vs Sankar Muthusamy 4-3

Sankar reduces the gap with two quick points, but his next shot goes wide and Kuan Lin takes the lead.

First game: Kuo Kuan Lin vs Sankar Muthusamy 4-1

Kuan Lin takes three points in row. He takes the third point with a jump smash.

Here we go. India’s Sankar Muthusamy in sky blue kits and Kuo Kuan Lin of Chinese Taipei in red and black kits are on the court.

Men’s singles final: Sankar Muthusamy vs Kuo Kuan Lin

Sankar Muthusamy vs Kuo Kuan Lin men’s singles final will start shortly

Tomoka Miyazaki clinches women’s singles title

Japanese Tomoka Miyazaki beats China’s Yuan An Qi 21-14, 20-22, 21-17 to win the BWF World Junior Championships women’s singles title.

Women’s singles final: Yuan An Qi restores parity, match heads to third game

China’s Yuan An Qi breaks Tomoka Miyazaki’s match point and wins two successive points to push the match to the third game. Miyazaki makes a few unforced errors. Despite that, she manages to widen the lead. However, at the end of the second game, Yuan holds her nerves to win it 22-20. 

Miyazaki wins first game in women’s singles final

Tomoka Miyazaki takes the lead in the women’s singles final against Yuan An Qi, winning the first game 21-14.

Time for the women’s singles final

Japanese Tomoka Miyazaki and Chinese Yuan An Qi takes on each other in the women’s singles gold medal match. This is their first meeting.

Zhu Yi-Liu Sheng clinches mixed doubles gold

Zhu Yi Jun-Liu Sheng Shu beats fellow Chinese pairing of Liao Pin Yi and Huang Ke Xin in a three-game thriller (21-10, 18-21, 21-10) to win the BWF World Junior Championships mixed doubles gold.

Sankar Muthusamy in action soon

Currently, mixed doubles final between Chinese pairs Zhu Yi Jun-Liu Sheng Shu and Liao Pin Yi-Huang Ke Xin is underway. It will be followed by the women’s singles final between Japanese Tomoka Miyazaki and Chinese Yuan An Qi. The men’s singles final between Sankar Muthusamy and Kuo Kuan Lin is about to start around 8.00 PM IST.

FORM GUIDE

Sankar got a bye in the round of 128. From the round of 64, he won three consecutive matches in straight games. In the quarterfinals against HU Zhe An, Sankar dropped the second game and won the match 21-18, 8-21, 21-16. In the semifinal, he beat Thailand’s Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul in straight games (21-13, 21-15) to advance to the final.

Kuo Kuan Lin has had a contrasting campaign in the run-up to the final. He played three three-game matches from the round of 32. In the semifinal, he beat South Korea’s Byung Jae Kim 16-21, 21-10, 21-18 to seal his berth in the final.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Sankar Muthusamy and Chinese Taipei’s Kuo Kuan Lin will face each other for the second time. Sankar defeated Kuan Lin in the Badminton Asia Junior U17 & U15 Championships 2018 final (MS U15).

PREVIEW

Sankar Muthusamy defeated Thailand’s Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul in straight games (21-13, 21-15) to advance to the final of the BWF Junior World Championships in Santander on Saturday. The semifinal lasted for 40 minutes. Sankar aims to become the first Indian to win the gold medal after Saina Nehwal, who won the yellow metal in 2008.

The 18-year-old told Sportstar he is thrilled to make the summit clash in his maiden world juniors. “As you know, every match is tough. I am looking forward to the final.”

Sankar took just 16 minutes to win the first game. It was a closely-fought game until the interval, with Sankar leading 11-9. However, thereon, he did not allow Panitchaphon a comeback and pocketed the game with a jump smash.

A left-handed player with solid defence, Sankar kept Panitchaphon, also a southpaw, busy, sending down shuttles quickly.

At 8-8 in the second game, Sankar engaged the Thai shuttler in a 57-shot rally, which eventually forced the latter to swing wide. He went on to take an 11-8 lead at the interval.

Panitchaphon did try to create pressure on Sankar, who made a bad fall while trying to reach the shuttle. However, the Indian shuttler recovered and grabbed six consecutive points to make it 18-12. Panitchaphon took three points in a bid to make a turnaround. Sankar held his nerves and foiled Panitchaphon’s smashes with his impeccable defence and, in a counterattack, finished the match 21-15, grabbing three successive points.

Speaking about the game, Sankar said, “It was a tough match and not what the scoreline suggests. He (the Thai) is an attacking player and pretty good, too. But as I got better with my defence, he got frustrated and started to make errors.”

Overall, he will be the fourth Indian shuttler to play the singles final in the last 14 years after Aparna Popat (1996) Saina and Siril Verma, who lost the final against Chinese Taipei’s Chia Hung Lu in 2015.

In the quarterfinals, the world junior no. 4 Indian beat Hu Zhen An of China 21-18, 8-21, 21-16 to assure himself a medal.

Sankar became only the 10th Indian to win a medal at the junior badminton world championships. Lakshya Sen was the last Indian to win a medal (bronze) in the event in 2018.

Saina Nehwal reached the final twice in 2006 and 2008 – when she won the gold medal. Aparna Popat was the other Indian to reach the final in 1996.

India has won one gold, three silver and five bronze medals in the history of the event.

In the final on Sunday, Sankar will take on Kuo Kuan-Lin of Chinese Taipei, who outlasted Kim Byung-Jae of South Korea 16-21, 21-10, 21-18 in the second semifinal.