KUALA LUMPUR: Shuttler Cheam June Wei is in good position to qualify for the boys’ singles event in the Youth Olympic Games after a strong outing in Europe recently.
Thanks to a final appearance in the German Junior Championships and a quarter-final finish in the Dutch Junior Championships over the last two weeks, the 16-year-old has broken into the top 10 for the first time in the latest Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) world junior rankings. He has moved four rungs to ninth in the world.
June Wei lost 6-21, 16-21 to China’s Lin Guipu of China in the final in Germany. In the Dutch Junior Championships, he was beaten 19-21, 19-21 by Guipu in the last eight.
Only the top 32 boys’ and 32 girls’ singles players qualify for the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China, in August. A country can only have a maximum of two players each in the boys’ singles and girls’ singles if both of them are ranked in the top four in the world junior rankings.
June Wei will now take part in the World Junior Championships in Alor Setar from April 7-18. The tournament is the last qualifier for the Youth Olympic Games.
Only June Wei and R. Satheiswaran have confirmed their places in the World Junior Championships. The full Malaysian team will be announced by the Badminton Association of Malaysia on March 20.
Said BAM’s secretary Ng Chin Chai: “We have long-term plans for June Wei and Satheishtharan and that’s why they were exempted from last week’s selection trials. June Wei’s main goal is to qualify for the Youth Olympic Games.”
Malaysia performed miserably in last month’s Asian Junior Championships in Taiwan and the BAM are banking on a better show in the World Junior Championships.
| The BWF Rankings | |||||||||||||||||||
| Boys' Singles | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Christie Jonatan (Ina) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Shi Yuqi (Chn) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Zhao Jun Peng (Chn) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Max Weisskirchen (Ger) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Cao Cuong Pham (Vie) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Selected | |||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Cheam June Wei | ||||||||||||||||||
| 31 | R. Satheishtharan | ||||||||||||||||||
| Girls' Singles | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
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