Jason Gunawan became the youngest-ever men’s singles champion at the annual Hong Kong badminton championships at Kowloon Park Sports Centre on Sunday, thanks partly to his decision to turn to full-time training amid the pandemic. Just three months after cutting short his secondary school studies to pursue a full-time sporting career at the Sports Institute, the 16-year-old teenager reigned supreme in the three-game final against Chan Yin-chak, winning 21-19, 17-21, 21-13 to put himself in the record books. The previous day in the semi-finals, Gunawan pulled off a surprise victory by knocking out Hong Kong number one Angus Ng Ka-long 23-21, 21-14 to reach the title match. Chan also eliminated another top Hong Kong player, Lee Cheuk-yiu, in the second round. “He would not be able to accomplish this without his decision to turn full-time so that he could return to training in August,” said badminton head coach Tim He Ye-ming. “He is talented player, no doubt about that as you can tell from the way he won the title. He is definitely in a class of his own for his age [group] but Gunawan still has to prove himself when he competes in senior competitions which will be played at a much higher level.” Hong Kong Badminton Open canned in world tour revamp due to Covid-19 When the Sports Institute shut down in March because of the pandemic, Gunawan, a form four student at the Diocesan Boys’ School, was forced to stop training because only full-time athletes were allowed to stay at the Fo Tan complex. “He was so anxious that he could not train and when the Institute reopened in August, he immediately ended his studies to become a full-time athlete so that he could return to training,” said the coach. “Apparently the decision worked for him.” Gunawan won back-to-back All Hong Kong Schools Jing Ying Tournament boy’s singles titles early this year and his decision to quit his studies meant that he would not be able to win a third junior title. “It was a premature decision as I had plans to finish my secondary school but somehow I made a decision because of the pandemic,” he said. “There is still a chance of winning other junior titles as I have now set sights on next year’s junior World Championships after losing in the last 16 at the 2019 event.” Facing an older rival in the final, Gunawan said he had nothing to lose, taking his chances that came his way before winning his biggest home title. “I treated it as another match with a calm mental approach even if it was a big final,” he said. “I felt very excited winning the title as Hong Kong now has many good players for me to learn from them.” September Asian badminton events cancelled due to pandemic In the mixed doubles final, Hong Kong’s top pair of Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet came back from 5-15 down in the second set to seal victory against Chang Tak-ching and Ng Wing-yung as the world number 10 combination won the title 21-10, 22-20. Deng Xuan lifted the women’s singles title when she defeated youngster Saloni Mehta 21-19, 21-10. Deng had earlier routed former Hong Kong number one Yip Pui-yin 21-13, 21-19 in the semi-finals. “We haven’t had any competitions for a long time and the purpose of the tournament was mainly to regain the competition feeling,” said the champion. Hong Kong badminton players haven’t had any competition since mid March after returning from the All England Open. Their next international tournament will be two Thailand Opens in January as Badminton World Federation plans to restart the world tour despite the pandemic.