Top contenders to miss World Juniors

With the World Juniors set to kick off in a few days’ time, no participant list has yet been published but it is known that several top contenders will not be in Lima looking for titles.  The main absentee will, of course, be two-time defending champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan.  She will not be able to tie Ratchanok Intanon’s record of three consecutive World Junior titles as she has been entered in the China Open Superseries Premier the same week.  Yamaguchi stands a very good chance of qualifying for the Superseries Finals and is a clear favourite to take one of Japan’s tickets to the Rio Olympics next year.

Team Korea has been seeded second in the Suhandinata Cup team competition on the strength of their runner-up finish at the Asian Juniors in July.  However, all of the players who contributed to Korea’s 3-2 victory over Indonesia in the semi-final tie at the Asian Juniors will be staying in Korea and playing at the Korea Masters Grand Prix Gold event.  Three of those players were also finalists in the individual competition in Bangkok but the Koreans have opted for a very young team, including players as young as 14, while none of the players in their last year of juniors, such as Seo Seung Jae, Choi Jong Woo, or Park Keun Hye, will be fielded.