By Zaher Wahab

yeo jiamin

Yeo Jiamin won the U-19 singles crown. (Photo 1 © Stanley Cheah/Red Sports)

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Singapore Badminton Hall, Sunday, December 1, 2013 – Girl power was evident at the recent Li-Ning Singapore Youth International Series, when Singapore’s young female shuttlers downed their opponents in the four finals that they had qualified for.

The girls came away with both the U-19 singles and doubles crown after beating their opponents soundly. Yeo Jiamin beat fellow Singaporean, Liang Yun, in straight sets, 21–14, 21–19, to clinch the U-19 singles title. Liang Yun later paired up with Citra Putri, to demolish the Thai pairing of Ruhakarn Dolaporn and Ratanamano Thanwaraj, in straight sets, 21–11, 21–14, to claim the U-19 doubles crown.

The badminton belles continued their winning streak by capturing the U-15 and U-17 doubles crowns when they beat their Indonesian and Chinese Taipei opponents, respectively. Singaporeans Crystal Wong and Yeo Jiamin claimed their U-15 doubles crown by beating the Indonesian pair of Widyaningrum Asty Dwi and Mentari Phita Haningtyas, 21–19 and 21–19, in the second and third set. This came after they rebounded from a first set defeat of 14–21.

Similarly, Elaine Chua and Jin Yujia, regrouped after their first set defeat to beat the Chinese Taipei pair of Chao Pin Chi and Chiang Ya Ting, 21–16, 21–13, to claim the U-17 doubles title.

It was a similar scenario for the boys’ pair of Loh Kean Hean and Terry Hee when they clawed back after losing their first set 18–21, to capture the U-19 doubles crown. They beat their Chinese Taipei counterparts, Chieh Yang Min and Lin Yu-Hsien, 21–17, 21–19, in the second and third sets respectively.

Current world women’s singles champion, Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, honed her skills against local and foreign shuttlers in the 2010 and 2011 edition of this tournament. This year, participants vied for a total prize kitty of SGD$9,000.