SANTANDER (SPAIN): India’s Sankar Muthusamy on Saturday booked his place in the men’s U-19 singles final with a clinical straight-game win over Thailand’s Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul at the BWF World Junior Championships here.
Seeded fourth in the tournament, Muthusamy showed great athleticism and tactical acumen to outwit Teeraratsakul 21-13 21-15 in a 40-minute semifinal.
He will take on the winner of the other semifinal between Chinese Taipei’s Kuo Kuan Lin and Korea’s Byung Jae Kim in the summit clash on Sunday.
In the tournament history, India has so far won a gold, 3 silver and five bronze medals with Lakshya Sen bagging the last medal, a bronze, in 2018.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal is the only Indian to win the junior world championship title in 2008. She had also reached the finals in 2006 but settled for silver.
Siril Verma also came close to claiming the title in 2015 but lost the final against Chinese Taipei’s Chia Hung Lu, while Aparna Popat (1996) is another Indian to reach the world junior finals in the past. (PTI)
