Malaysians' Joy

Oh, what a joyous day it was in Sultan Abdul Hamid Stadium, Kedah, yesterday. Yesterday was the final day of the World Junior Badminton Championship 2009 which saw the Malaysian boys' doubles pair and boys' singles player storming into the finals and of course, making the home country proud. With powerhouse like China and Indonesia around, Malaysia still proved its worth when the boys' doubles pair consisting of Chooi Kah Ming-Ow Yao Han ousted the top seed from Indonesia (Angga Pratama-Rendy Sugiarto) in the semi-final. Meanwhile, Iskandar Zulkarnain, playing in the boys' singles event, managed to avenge his defeat to Hsu Jen Hao of Taiwan previously. Saturday was considered the pre-historic day for Iskandar as he was one step closer to capture the boys' singles title when he made it for the final round. But that was not until Tian Hou Wei of China was on Iskandar's way to prevent him from becoming the first Malaysian boys' singles champion. In fact, he was defeated quite easily by Hou Wei without needing to force a rubber game. However, Malaysia's hope of winning at least a gold was kept alive by Kah Ming-Yao Han, who were the second seed in their event. Fortunately, the Malaysians outplayed the Indonesian pair of Berry Angriawan-Muhammad Ulinuha in a dashing match. The first game was taken by the Indonesians, whilst the Malaysians fired up to dominate the second game. Malaysian and Indonesian fans who gathered at the stadium, were totally zealous about the third game, so was I. Malaysia was leading in the first portion of the game but ended up trailing the Indonesians to a 16-20 lead. It turned out to be no disappointment as the Malaysians battled point for point to level the points at 20-20. *sigh of relief* Then again, it was a crucial moment for the Malaysian pair and also the home supporters! But, the Malaysians went on to seal the third game after an unforced error was made by their opponent, and that earned them the world junior champion title! The Malaysians won 19-21,21-12,23-21. Kah Ming-Yao Han is the 5th boys' doubles pair to have won a gold for Malaysia in this event. There was a double joy for China with Tian Hou Wei and Tang Jin Hua-Xia Huan clinching the boys' singles and girls' doubles titles respectively. Same goes to Thailand, who not only had a mixed doubles and a girls' singles champion, but also had their players' name on the history book. Thailand had not won any titles in the junior championships for over a decade. It was yesterday that Jongjit Maneepong-Rodjana and Ratchanok Intanon made history for Thailand!(Note: Ratchanok is only 14 years old and she defeated her older compatriot with style)