Bryan Goonting and Aaron Tai, who were paired just two months ago, have emerged as promising talents by clinching a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships.

In a hard-fought battle, Bryan and Aaron fought valiantly but succumbed to a 18-21 21-15 14-21 defeat against Taiwan's Asian Junior bronze medalists, Lai Po-yu and Tsai Fu-cheng in the semi-finals held in Spokane, Washington.

Notably, Bryan and Aaron have made history as the first boys' doubles pair from Malaysia to medal at the World Juniors since Teo Ee Yi and Nelson Heg secured gold in 2011 in Taiwan.

"I'm satisfied and happy to win this bronze, especially as this will be Bryan's last world juniors," remarked the 17-year-old Aaron. "Last year, I was in the world junior squad but did not get the opportunity to play. So, I'm thankful to my coaches and my senior, Bryan, for this experience."

Aaron will now return to competing with his original partner, Kang Khai Xing, in junior competitions, while the 18-year-old Bryan will shift his focus to senior tournaments alongside Choi Jian Sheng.

Adding to the cheer, the mixed doubles pair of Low Han Chen and Chong Jie Yu secured a bronze medal after a tough battle resulting in a 14-21 14-21 loss to the top-seeded duo, Zhu Yijun and Huang Kexing of China, in the semi-finals.

Han Chen and Jie Yu have matched the achievement of their seniors, Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei, who won bronze in 2016 in Bilbao.

Bryan and Aaron, along with Han Chen and Jie Yu, were also part of the team that secured bronze in the mixed team event.

With these three bronze medals, the junior badminton team has significantly redeemed themselves after returning empty-handed from the Asian Junior meet in Yogyakarta in July. This marks the first time since 2018 that Malaysia has secured medals in both the World and Asian Junior meets.