Cairo (Egypt), Oct 15 (PTI) India’s Jagsher Singh Khangurra assured himself of a medal at the Badminton World Junior Championships after rallying to beat Chinese Taipei’s Yuan-Syue Jhuang in a thrilling three-game quarterfinal here on Thursday.
Khangurra saved a match point in the second game before prevailing 6-15, 17-15, 15-12 at the Cairo International Stadium.
The Punjab shuttler had earlier defeated Malaysia’s Lee Qian Chong 15-8, 15-8 in the pre-quarterfinals on Thursday.
“The feeling can’t be expressed by words. It’s really awesome, getting a medal for India. I can’t express it in words,” he said after his match.
“(For) almost 5-6 years I have been dreaming of playing in the World Championship, Junior World Championship. Now, I have already secured a medal, but I am hoping for gold.”
Khangurra, who has been training at the Centre for Badminton Excellence in Bengaluru for the past two years, will face Indonesia’s Radithya Bayu Wardhana on Friday for a place in the final.
Talking about the match, Khangurra, who trains under Sagar Chopda and Muniramu G, said: “It’s my first World Juniors. He is really good, his smashes are really good.
“He outplayed me in the first set, like I was not able to control. But in the second set, I talked to myself, like this is a quarter-final match. I have to play for India, for my parents.
“It gave me a lot of boost and I only thought that I have to take all the shuttles. I will not leave any shuttle.”
The Indian had also beaten Thailand’s 22nd seed Punnatat Prempunpong in the round of 32, besides defeating Mauritius’ Pranav Bhaugeerothee and Algeria’s Mohamed Rayane Bouffeniche in the earlier rounds.
Khangurra, who has won six medals at international tournaments, said he needs to work on his power, and watching Lakshya Sen train at the academy has been a great lesson.
“I have watched many matches of international players, including India’s Lakshya Sen. He trains in the same place. I watch him play; he is really good. He also likes to do placements.”
India has so far won one gold, five silver, and six bronze.
Shaina Manimuthu also had a chance to assure India of a medal in the girls’ singles category, but the Asian U-17 silver medallist went down 5-15, 8-15 to China’s Yi Qing Yin in the quarterfinals. PTI ATK PDS ATK DDV
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