With Indonesia’s youth singles shuttlers Renna Suwarno and Evert Sukamta securing two births for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games for badminton, four others departed to Mexico on Tuesday for the upcoming World Junior Championship vying for additional tickets.
The World Junior Championship serves as a key qualifier for the Youth Olympics.
Four singles of the overall nine youth shuttlers participating at the April 16-25 championship in Guadalajara are men’s singles Riyanto Subagja and Shesar Hiren Rhustavito of the prominent badminton club Djarum, women’s singles Novalia Agustianti of Tangkas and Millicent Wiranto of Medan, North Sumatra.
“Besides Renna and Evert, the national training camp currently does not have more youth shuttlers with the age required in the qualifier, thus we let clubs send their shuttlers instead,” Indonesia Badminton Association (PBSI) deputy chairman I Gusti Made Oka told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
At the recent Asian Youth U-19 Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Evert was through to the semifinals, qualifying for the Youth Olympics. Meanwhile, Renna went through to the quarterfinals, where four of the top eight shuttlers were from China.
As one country can only have one shuttler qualify per event in this championship, Renna eventually booked her Youth Olympics ticket.
Only shuttlers born between Jan. 1, 1992, and Dec. 31, 1993, are eligible for the Youth Olympics. Every country has a maximum quota of two girls and two boys to qualify if it reaches the top-seven at the World Junior Championships in Mexico.
“All of the singles shuttlers own an equal chance to qualify. Let’s see how they perform on the court,” team manager Sigit Budiarto told the Post prior to his squad departure on Tuesday.
Besides the singles shuttlers, Djarum also sent its men’s doubles, Jones Ralfi Jansen/Dandi Prabudita and women’s doubles Nurbeta Kwanrico/Aulia Putri Drajat, while Tangkas also sent mixed doubles shuttler Wahyu Nayaka Arya Pangkaryanira.
The World Junior Championship in Mexico will start with mixed-team event competition (Suhandinata Cup) running from April 16-19, followed by an individual event competition (Bimantara Cup) from Apr. 21-25.
