Korea Junior Open Badminton: Maisnam Meiraba Luwang Clinches Boys’ Singles U-19 Title

Maisnam Meiraba Luwang pocketed the boys’ singles U-19 title at the Woncheon Yonex Korea Junior Open International Challenge 2019 in Miryang, Korea on Saturday.

Luwang, the top seed from Manipur, required just 36 minutes to negate the challenge posed by 15th seed Lee Hak Joo of Korea in a 21-10, 21-13 win.

Sathish Kumar Karunakaran, who had bowed out to Luwang 16-21, 22-24 in a gritty semi-final contest on Friday, clinched the bronze medal in the same category at this Junior International Challenge tournament.

The 16-year-old rising star Luwang was impressive right through the tournament. The World No. 9 seed in the World Junior Rankings, dropped just one game in six matches.

This is Luwang’s third international title this year following his triumphs at the Russian Junior White Nights 2019 and India Junior International 2019.

Luwang would especially be pleased with the way he rebounded after a disappointing exit from the World Junior Championships last month, where he crashed out in the Round of 64.