Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports City, November 5, 2008, Pune – For the first time in history, badminton powerhouse China was forced to surrender the girls’ doubles crown to Singapore at the 2008 World Junior Badminton Championship (WJC) held in Pune last week.

Singapore’s China-born pair of Fu Mingtian and Yao Lei dismantled the top seeded Chinese pair of Zhong Qianxin and Xie Jing 21-19, 21-17, to also bequeath Singapore her first gold medal at the annual World Junior Championship.

Fu/Yao can be considered a ‘scratch’ pair as they were only reunited just three months ago after a two-year split. At last Sunday’s final, the girls unleashed an immaculate tactical game to outwit the defending champions Zhong and Xie. The Chinese pair was highly erratic and the Singapore pair capitalised on that to remain in control, dictating the pace of the match.

Their victory made up for Singapore’s disappointing mixed team result earlier in the week, where Singapore finished 12th out of 39 nations, which is pales considerably in comparison with the team’s bronze medal feat in Auckland last year.