Indonesian mixed doubles pair take gold in 2018 BWF junior worlds

JAKARTA -- Indonesia's mixed doubles badminton pair of Leo Rolly Carnando and Indah Cahya Sari Jamil won the 2018 BWF World Junior Championships in Ontario, Canada on Sunday.

In the women's doubles, Agatha Imanuella and Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti also secured a silver medal, while three bronze medals were also won by Indonesians, the country's badminton association revealed in a statement.

Leo and Indah played aggressively and made few mistakes on the way to defeating compatriots Rehan Naufal Kusharjantto and Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti in 30 minutes, with scores of 21-15 and 21-9.

"I did not believe we could win. We are very happy with this achievement because it exceeded our target," said Indah.

In the women's doubles, Agatha and Siti were defeated by Chinese opponents Liu Xuanxuan and Xia Yuting with scores of 18-21 and 13-21.

With a haul of five medals in the tournament, Indonesian team manager Susi Susanti revealed that the achievement exceeded the target set by the country's badminton association.

"We are satisfied, as what had been set as our target has been exceeded," said Susanti, adding that while the players had in general performed well, there remained room for further improvement.

The Indonesian Badminton Association sent a total of 20 young badminton players to the tournament, which ran from Nov 5 to 18.

Indonesia secured two titles in last year's BWF World Junior Championships.