It was the final battle for most of the young European players in Yogyakarta. After a defeat of all girls in women’s singles earlier, there are also no men’s doubles pairs left during the World Junior championships.

Three European pairs remaining in women's doubles

Luckily there are still women’s doubles pairs in the race. Fifth seeded Bengisu Ercetin/Nazlican Inci (Turkey), Amelia Magelund/Freja Ravn (Denmark) and Debora Jille/Alyssa Tirtosentono (The Netherlands) won their match today and proceeded to quarter finals. Magelund and Ravn made a great victory by beating first seeded Korean pair Kim and Seong. Tomorrow they will face tenth seeded Chinese pair Xia and Shuxian. Ercetin and Inci will play Li and Liu tomorrow, also from China.

Read: Turkish teenagers climbed 18 spots

Jille and Tirtosentono in historic quarter final

Beforehand it might seem a bit of a surprise that Jille and Tirtosentono have made it to the quarter finals, but they already beat the seventh seeded Thai pair Pauwsapran/Sudjaipraparat before during the team matches. ‘We already knew how they played and had a good tactic for the game. So staying calm and following the tactics was the plan. And it worked!’ Jille commented to Badminton Europe after her match.

Also the day before Jille and Tirtosentono had a solid plan against thirtheenth seeded Japanese pair Iwanga/Saito. Earlier this year Jille and Tirtosentono also faced this pair during the Yonex Dutch Junior and lost. ‘Before the match we watched videos of them and prepared the tactics. It also helped that we played on that court three times before’ Jille stated. But sticking to the plan despite the circumstances is what made them proceed to the next round, surviving three set points. And surviving the next round is also what brings Jille and Tirtosento into the quarter finals.

In the quarter final they will face second seeded Korean pair Baek and Lee. ‘We will do everything to go home with a medal! But we already reached a historic quarterfinal’ Jille commented.

15 year old Christo Popov and Nhat Nguyen still standing in men’s singles

Three French players had made it to the last 16 in men’s singles, but only the youngest of them, Christo Popov (pictured above), took a spot in the quarter finals. Popov managed to beat fifth seeded Thai Ruttanapak Oupthong in straight sets. ‘It was a good match today. It is crazy but I am just really happy to play quarter final tomorrow!’ said Popov after his match.

Also Nhat Nguyen has made it to the quarter final in men’s singles. He was able to beat Indian Kartikey Gulshan Kumar in three sets. Tomorrow he will face Chinese player Zhengze Gao who beat other French player Arnaud Merkle today. Third French player, Leo Rossi, lost today to Malaysian Jun Hao Leong.

In mixed doubles there is only one European couple left. Amelia Lundgaard also made it through quarter finals in mixed doubles, playing with Daniel Lundgaard. They will face Fan and Liu from China. 

Read: Seeded Euro men’s singles through to R3

For results, live score and order of play in Yogyakarta, click here.