The Beginning of the Future Badminton Stars
Asia is still one of the lighthouses of the badminton world, not only in teams but also individual categories. For a lot of Asia’s best badminton players, their experiences and skills at the beginning were honed in one of Asia’s most prestigious championships in the junior group: Badminton Asia U17 & U15 Junior Championships.
Of all the badminton stars we have today were two boys who won the titles in the 2010 Badminton Asia U17 & U15 Junior Championships: Jonatan Christie, also known as Jojo, from Indonesia, and Kento Momota from Japan. Jojo became the U15 champion in 2010 while, in the same event, Momota became the U17 champion in the men’s singles category. As they shifted to the senior level, Jojo and Momota became the world's top badminton players snatching titles in some of the world’s most prestigious tournaments.
Jojo is the gold medalist at the Asian Games 2018 and concluded Indonesia’s victory in the 2020 Thomas Cup. On the other hand, Momota also brought Japan to make history by winning the Thomas Cup for the first time in 2014. Momota also became the World Champion at the senior level twice in 2018 and 2019. Currently, 12 years after winning the title in the Badminton Asia U17 & U15 Junior Championships, both Jojo and Momota are still sitting in the top 10 of the world rankings.
Meanwhile, in women's singles, the 2021 and 2022 World Champions, Akane Yamaguchi from Japan, was the winner of the U15 group at the 2011 Badminton Asia U17 & U15 Junior Championships. Later, she became an important part of team Japan in lifting the Uber Cup in 2018. Currently, Yamaguchi is ranked first in the women’s singles world rankings.
Interestingly, today’s #2 women’s singles rank is by Korea’s hero in the 2022 Uber Cup, An Se-young who was also the champion of the U15 group in the 2016 Badminton Asia U17 & U15 Junior Championships.
A good number of badminton stars started putting brighter lights onto their names in the annual youth championship. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Badminton Asia U17 & U15 Junior Championships couldn’t be held in 2020 and 2021. The last championships before the pandemic was held in 2019 in Surabaya, Indonesia.
This year, the Badminton Asia U17 & U15 Junior Championships is back. The Badminton Association of Thailand (BAT) is hosting the championships in the city of Nonthaburi at Chaengwattana Hall, from 29 November to 4 December 2022.
Asian countries are excited again. Thailand, Brunei, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam will take part. The competition is predicted to be tough and it will be interesting to spot the talents who may be future badminton stars.
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