Yonex-Sunrise Badminton Asian Junior Championships is the event which produces future Olympic and world champions and teams like powerhouse China, South Korea and Malaysia always play the leading roles.

However, little known badminton nations like Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPR Korea) and Pakistan, getting an opportunity to compete in the tournament itself means a lot for them.

They are not here to fight for honours and have to compete in the qualifying round of the mixed team event and advancing to the main draw is a great achievement for them.

DPR Korea defeated Kazhkstan 4-1, overcame Bhutan 4-1 and Mongolia 5-0 in group B to qualify for the main draw while Philippines topped group A after securing identical 5-0 victories over Jordan, Cambodia and Pakistan.

Pakistan, despite losing to Philippines, made it after beating Cambodia and Jordan with 5-0 victories while Kazakhstan secured their place in the main draw after beating Mongolia 5-0 and Bhutan 3-2.

DPR Korea Badminton Association secretary Pak Chan Sun (right) said that it is the third time they have competed in the tournament since 2000 and 2005 and regarded it as the most important event to expose their junior players

"Although we have a 30-year history of badminton in our country, the game is picking up over the last five years and the Asian Juniors tournament is very important for us," said Pak.

"At the moment we do not have a national team and we are grooming our junior players to go on to become senior players in another three years.

"All four of our players are 16 and we hope that they can do better in the 2008 Asian Junior Championships. After that they will join the national team. We are still behind other Asian countries but I feel we can bridge the gap, maybe in the next five to 10 years."

DPR Korea have four players in the tournament. They are Yu Ho Chol, Ri Un Nam, Kim Ryon Mi and Kim Mi Hyang.

Meanwhile, Pakistan (left) also made some impression when they moved into the main draw despite competing in the Asian Juniors for the first time.

Their team manager Ahmad Salim Farooqi said the tournament will do a world of good for the juniors who hardly get the opportunity to play in tournaments overseas.