T

he absence of badminton powerhouse China at the upcoming World Junior Badminton Championships in Taoyuan City, Taiwan, provides an opportunity for the Indonesian junior shuttlers to bring home more gold medals.

“Their absence is an excellent opportunity. China has been dominant in almost all of the sectors. Now, a golden opportunity is wide open in four sectors: the men’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles,” the coach for the junior squad, Bambang Supriyanto, said on Wednesday.

“Hopefully, we can shine in those individual events,” said Bambang.

The Indonesian youngsters will depart for Taoyuan City on Oct. 25 to attend the world junior championships, which will take place from Oct. 28 to Nov. 6.

The first four days of the tournament will feature the team events, while the remaining days will host the individual events, offering a total of five gold medals.

It was not clear why China pulled out from among the 24 participating countries, though reports suggest it is due to the political situation between the Chinese and Taiwanese governments.

Last year in Mexico City, China was the defending champion and won the Suhandinata Cup by defeating South Korea (3-0) in the team final, while Malaysia snatched third place after beating Indonesia 3-2.

Indonesia did not win a gold from the individual events of the tournament, with Danish competitor Viktor Axelsen triumphing in the men’s singles, and Thai prodigy Ratchanok Inthanon winning the women’s singles. The men’s doubles world title was won by Malaysian pair Ow Yao Han and Yew Hong Kheng, while Chinese duo Bao Yixin and Ou Dongni won the women’s doubles, and Liu Cheng and Bao Yixin, the mixed doubles.

Bambang is confident, though, that this year the Indonesian juniors are armed with more mental ammunition.

“We’ve had more time to prepare over the past two months. That is much better than previously, when we only had a week or two before the tournament,” said Bambang. The 20-strong junior team has been selected from 52 junior players, who have been put through their paces at the national training camp in Cipayung, East Jakarta, since early September.

“We believe that the Asian titles served as a big boost of confidence for them to then look ahead to the world titles,” he added.

The 18-year-old pair Tiara and Suci expressed their determination for a world title.

“This will be our last chance to win the world junior title. We really hope to secure a memorable achievement before we enter the senior level next year,” said Tiara, who has played with Suci since they were 13 years old.

In July’s Asian Junior Championship in Luknow, India, Indonesian juniors — Suci Rizki Andini and Tiara Rosalia Nuraidah in the women’s doubles, and Lukhi Apri Nugroho and Ririn Amelia in the mixed doubles — brought home two Asian golden titles. Lukhi also paired with Kevin Sanjaya Sukamulyo to reach the men’s doubles final at the Singapore International Series in the same month.