Fung Permadi, Zhou Mi wins Korea Open badminton finals
Fung Permadi, Zhou Mi wins Korea Open badminton finals
SEOUL (Agencies): Taiwanese Fung Permadi and Zhou Mi of China took the singles titles in the Korea Open badminton championships on Sunday.
Fung, a former Indonesian, handed fellow veteran Thomas Stuer- Lauridsen his first big defeat in more than a year by beating the Dane 17-14, 15-6 for the men's title.
Fung kept his composure well in an exciting first set where both players seemed to stretch their limits, then set the pace to force a frustrated Lauridsen into repeated mistakes at the net in the second.
"It was a bit tough at the start. He's very tall... I just tried to push him to make mistakes," Fung said after the victory which earned him US$20,000.
"I feel good about it. I've worked hard and it's led to successful things," he said.
"I was tired in the second game... but he played well and deserved to win," said Lauridsen, who edged out Indonesian young hopeful Johan Hadikusuma in the semifinals.
The Dane said that the ankle on which he had surgery last year did not affect his game.
Both Fung and Lauridsen said they looked forward to a possible rematch in the Taiwan Open Championships starting on Tuesday.
Zhou Mi fought what she said was a familiar battle with compatriot and sparring partner Gong Ruina to win the women's final 11-6, 13-12 for a $17,250 jackpot.
Gong, slightly smaller, inched her way back into it in the second game with her agility and swift footwork but was unable to quell Zhou's powerful strokes.
"It was very difficult for me since we play together in China all the time," said Zhou.
Asked what she would do with her new-found wealth, the 19-year-old replied: "I'll hand it to my mother."
Indonesia, resting most of its top players in the opening event of the world badminton circuit, managed to win a title after its second-string men's doubles team of Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian beat Jesper Larsen and Jens Eriksen of Denmark 6-15, 15- 7, 15-9.
It was the first title for Flandy and Eng, top seeds here, since partnering last year.