ASIAN U15/U17 – ‘King’ star crowned in Chiba

Once in a while a sports star shines so bright that he/she is asked to make a guest appearance on the silver screen.  With badminton, it seems to have happened the other way around.   Indonesia’s Jonathan Christie, who played a key role in King – quite possibly the first ever badminton-themed feature film (see related articles HERE and HERE) – has picked up an international title in the Asian Under-15s in Chiba, Japan last week.  Christie – who played the comparatively privileged and somewhat cocky Arya, rival to protagonist Guntur in King – beat Japan’s Koga Minoru in two straight games in the final to take the Asian Under-15 boys’ singles title.

The ANA Badminton Asia Youth U17 & U15 Championships finished with Japan winning the remaing three singles titles while Korea won three of the four doubles titles.  Although the under-17 competition did not feature Asia’s most famous players of the category (Ng Ka Long, Tai Tzu Ying, Ratchanok Intanon), there was still some quality on display.  Korea’s Lee So Hee, reigning German Junior Champion, won the girls’ doubles with Shin Seung Chan but was unable to defend the U-17 singles title she won last year as both she and Shin were defeated by eventual winner Okuhara Nozomi of Japan, who was runner-up last year.

Complete results can be downloaded from the Badminton Asia Confederation HERE