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A well deserved silver medal for France (Photo: Badminton Photo)
Popov wins World Junior silver!
Date: 10/13/2019 7:35 PM
Published by : Alan Raftery
The World Junior Championships taking place in Kazan, Russia came to a end today. Badminton's finest young talents competing to win the prestigious title that so many legends of the game have won in the past. 

A European player hasn't lifted the title for nearly a decade. The last being Viktor Axelsen in 2010. But after a sensational week, France's Christo Popov found himself in the men's singles final with an opportunity to write himself into the history books.
 
Popov came into the tournament as the tenth seed, so being in among the medals by far exceeded expectations. At the tail-end of a long week, Popov mustered-up a terrifically dominant semifinal performance against the fourth seed from China, Li Yunze, who would have benefited from his walkover in the quarterfinal. Winning 21-18, 21-13 the French booked a ticket to the final, where he was due to face back-to-back world junior champion from Thailand, Kunlavut Vitidsarn. 

Another historic feat by Thailand
Number one seed Vitidsarn, who has already made a significant statement at senior level by breaking into the top fifty was a cut above his opponents once again. He didn't drop a game for the entire week and secured his world junior treble against Popov with a 21-8, 21-11 victory. A feat only achieved once before by his compatriot Ratchanok Intanon in the women's singles. The future is for sure bright for this young star. 

For Popov too, a silver medal was a brilliant result that will no doubt give him invaluable experience moving forward in his development. The resilience and fight shown by the left-hander was admirable and we will be seeing a lot more from this young man. 

World Junior Championship medalists:

Men's singles
Gold - Kunlavut Vitidsarn (THA)
Silver - Christo Popov (FRA)
Bronze - Yonathan Ramlie (INA) & Li Yunze (CHN)

Women's singles
Gold - Riko Gunji (JPN)
Silver - Zhou Meng (CHN)
Bronze - Phittayaporn Chaiwan (THA) & Dai Wang (CHN)

Men's doubles
Gold - Leo Rolly Carnando/ Daniel Marthin (INA)
Silver - Di Zijian/ Wang Chang (CHN)
Bronze - Takuma Kawamoto/ Tsubasa Kawamura (JPN) & Dai Enyi/ Feng Yanzhe (CHN)

Women's doubles
Gold - Lin Fangling/ Zhou Xinru (CHN)
Silver - Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma/ Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi (INA)
Bronze - Kaho Osawa/ Hinata Suzuki (JPN) & Li Yijing/ Luo Xumin (CHN)

Mixed doubles
Gold - Feng Yanzhe/ Lin Fangling (CHN)
Silver - Leo Rolly Carnando/ Indah Cahya Sari Jamil (INA)
Bronze - Jiang Zhenbang/ Li Yijing (CHN) &  Ratchapol Makkasasithorn/ Benyapa Aimsaard (THA)

For the full results, click here. 

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