BEST OF ASIA’S JUNIOR’S: PORNPICHA CHOEIKEEWONG (THAILAND)
Pornpicha Choekeewong is a junior player from Thailand. Born in 2003, she is the current world #3 in BWF’s Junior ranking for women’s singles. Despite only being 18, she already has 88 career wins so far for women’s singles and women’s doubles. If she keeps this up, she will surely be one of Asia’s best.
In 2016, very early on in her career, she’s already marked her place in junior badminton. In the OUE SINGAPORE YOUTH INTERNATIONAL SERIES 2016, she reached the quarter finals in the singles category, and reached the finals in the doubles category with partner Pornnicha Suwatnodom, before being defeated by Japanese pair Riko Gunji and Akari Nakashizu. But despite not lifting the title, winning second place very early on in her career was a sign that she will soon dominate.
The following year in 2017, saw her competing in way more tournaments than the previous years. She participated in the BEER LAO INTERNATIONAL SERIES 2017 where she reached the quarter finals with Suwatnodom, she went to Korea and competed at the YONEX KOREA JUNIOR BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIPS as well. However, it wasn’t until the end of the year when she lifted her first title at the OUE SINGAPORE YOUTH INTERNATIONAL SERIES 2017 with Suwatnodom. They reached the finals and defeated Thai pair Krittaporn Jiantanet and Sasikarn Piyawatcharavijit 21-16, 21-14 in just under 30 minutes. An incredible first title for the two of them.
2018 was an event busier year for Choekeewong as she competed in more tournaments, including the Dutch and German Junior where they reached the quarterfinals in both competitions. Other competitions included the YONEX-SHERA-ROZA-BTY JUNIOR INTERNATIONAL 2018, BADMINTON ASIA JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS 2018 ( INDIVIDUAL EVENT), YONEX SUNRISE INDIA JUNIOR INTERNATIONAL 2018 and more. In October of 2018, she finally landed herself on the podium when she and Suwatnodom reached the finals of the BADMINTON ASIA JUNIOR U17 & U15 CHAMPIONSHIPS 2018. However, they lost to their Thai compatriots Benyapa Aimsaard and Peeraya Khantaruangsakul 12-21, 17-21. Still, it was an amazing achievement at a big junior event. But fortunately, the year ended with her lifting a title at the SINGAPORE YOUTH INTERNATIONAL SERIES 2018 in the women’s singles category after she defeated Chinese Taipei player Huang Yu-Hsun.
In 2019, she continued to compete in many of the same ones as the previous year, such as the German Junior. At the MONGOLIA JUNIOR INTERNATIONAL SERIES 2019, she reached two finals for both singles and doubles, earning second place trophies in Mongolia. She was also quite successful at the INDIA JUNIOR INTERNATIONAL 2019 where she reached the semifinals of the singles category and the finals of the doubles, before losing to Kaho Osawa and Hinata Suzuki of Japan. Just like the year before, she also found success at the BADMINTON ASIA U17 & U15 JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS 2019, reaching the podium at the women’s double event.
In 2020 she attended several events but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of them were cancelled. We hope that this year more junior tournaments are available, so we can see Pornpicha Choekeewong prosper even more and becoming a rising star.
