Source:REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa
[Saba Sports News] A new star has emerged in the world of women’s badminton singles. Thailand’s rising star, Pitchamon Opatniputh, though she did not clinch the title, will become the youngest player in history to reach the finals of a Super 500 tournament at the age of 19, according to official BWF records. In the recently held women’s singles final of the 2026 BWF Indonesia Masters, Pitchamon lost to Chen Yufei, the gold medalist from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, with a score of 0-2 (21-23, 13-21), earning the runner-up position. Although she fell short of the championship trophy, Pitchamon proved that she is not just a simple potential newcomer, thanks to her outstanding performance throughout the tournament. In this event, she defeated several higher-ranked opponents, making her way to the finals and showcasing sharp attacks and confident control of the match. This indicates that after winning the 2023 World Junior Championships and adapting to the senior competition circuit, Pitchamon now possesses the ability to challenge the top players in the adult category.
The editor believes that this record is somewhat controversial. The difficulty level of Super 500 events cannot be considered extremely high, and the reason why the world’s number one player, An Se-young, is not the youngest finalist is that she participated in higher-level events earlier. Nevertheless, the editor is pleased with the emergence of this newcomer.