13 October, 2024
Badminton England’s Benjamin Horseman and Jia Bin Lee produced a confident performance to reach the round of 16 at the World Junior Championships in Nanchang.
The duo were the top talent for England throughout the competition, the only players to reach the final 16 and proving their strength against the best in the world.
Horseman and Lee eased through their earlier rounds to set up a fierce battle with Indonesia’s Dexter Farrell and Wahyu Agung Prasetyo in the round of 16.
A particularly impressive 21-8 21-12 victory over Azerbaijan in the round of 32 gave the under-19 duo plenty of confidence heading into the next round but they were overcome on the day, putting together a strong second game but falling 21-12 21-15.
Rajvi Parab enjoyed a fruitful women’s singles run in China, winning two of her matches to reach the round of 32.
Parab had overcome Switzerland’s Leila Zarrouk in the round of 64, having initially fallen 21-14 in the first game, the teenager fought back to take the final two and the overall win 14-21 21-15 21-13.
In her round of 32 match, Parab faced India’s Aalisha Naik and missed out on the next round with a 21-18 21-14 defeat.
Horseman was also in action in the mixed doubles alongside Badminton England teammate Lucy Brierley.
The duo won their first match with an emphatic 21-12 21-12 result but faced a difficult contest against Singapore’s Xiao En Heng and Joo Jin Nge in the round of 64, ultimately falling 21-10 21-9.
Brierley had also reached the same stage in the women’s doubles alongside Lila Dundas but missed out on progressing while Dundas joined forces with Jason Ou to reach the round of 64 in the mixed doubles.
Dundas and Ou had fought back from the game down in the round of 128 to win the contest 15-21 21-16 21-15 and reach the next stage.
Ou was also in singles action in Nanchung, losing to Malaysia’s Zhou Swin Kong in the first round.
Lee and Matilda Franklin narrowly missed out on progressing in the mixed doubles, fighting hard in the second game against Sri Lanka’s Shenuk Samararatne and Ranithma Liyanage but falling 21-13 23-21, as Franklin and Parab bowed out of the women’s doubles in the R128.