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World Junior badminton champs from Thailand, Indonesia make transition to make Super 500 final at Indonesia; Alwi Farhan takes first title

2023 World Junior Champ from Thailand in women's singles pushes Chen Yufei 23-21 in opening set; Indonesian Alwi Farhan, the men's singles winner wins first Super 500 title

2 min readUpdated: Jan 25, 2026 08:14 PM IST

Opatniputh had shown technical finesse in dismantling the game of promising Indian Junior Tanvi Sharma, just 17, at Guwahati while taking the juniors crown (AP Photo)

2023 World Junior champ Pitchamon Opatniputh has made a mark immediately in seniors reaching the final of the Indonesia Super 500 event impressively, at a record 19 years 21 days. The Thai however went down to former Olympic champion Chen Yufei, 23-21, 21-13.

Opatniputh, a technically sound player with smooth movements and good power and deception in her strokes, trailed the Chinese 15-19, but upped the ante to level at 20-20. The youngest ever finalist at this tournament grade, however made two mistakes after chasing after Yufei at 21-21.

Thailand, which boasts of the youngest senior World champion in Ratchanok Intanon back in 2013, has an impressive lineup coming through with Opatniputh followed in next edition by Anyapat Phichitpreechasak, another canny player capable of controlling pace of the shuttle in the air. Opatniputh however had a brilliant week as defeated Letshanaa Karupathevan 21-15, 21-17 and will play former Olympic champ Chen Yufei in the finals.

Indonesia has seen the emergence of a young brigade take centrestage, with 5 finalists under 21 years of age in the Indonesia final.

Thailand seems to have the best crop of graduated juniors with Panitchapon Teeraratsakul, 21, making men’s singles final, after beating former world champ in seniors Loh Kean Yew in straight sets. The Class of 2023 seems to have stepped up, as joining the Thai in the Indonesia final was local talent Alwi Farhan, 20, who have been competing against each other since age-group days. “We are friends off court but we will give our best to win,” BWF quoted Farhan.

Alwi went on to demolish his frequent rival against whom he had lost two years ago, winning 21-5, 21-6 in 25 minutes. The SEA Games champion, who has wins against Anders Antonsen, Alex Lanier, HS Prannoy, Wenger Hong Yang, Lin Chun Yi and Lakshya Sen, took the next step with a Super 500

Raymond Indra (21) and Nikolaus Joaquin (20) are also part of the new bunch in men’s doubles, having beaten seniors Gautama-Isfahani in semis, and ended up going down 21-19, 21-13 to Goh-Izzuddin in finals.