Indonesian shuttlers take two titles at S'pore Open
Indonesian shuttlers take two titles at S'pore Open
Agence France-Presse, Singapore
Top seeds Luluk Hadiyanto and Alven Yulianto from Indonesia beat the unseeded Danish duo of Jens Eriksen and Martin Lundgaard Hansen 15-2, 15-9 for the men's doubles Singapore Open badminton crown on Sunday.
In the mixed event, Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir defeated Malaysia's Koo Kien Keat and Wong Pei Tty 15-1, 15-4 to give Indonesia its second title of the tournament.
Athens Olympic champion Zhang Ning cruised to her third women's singles crown , while Danish veteran Kenneth Jonassen saved two match points on his way to becoming the first men's non-Asian title-holder.
Zhang, the world number two, was far too good for her fourth- seeded compatriot, Zhou Mi, winning 11-8, 11-1 in half an hour to collect the winner's cheque of US$11,730 .
"It feels great to win. It gives me confidence to carry on," said the 27-year-old Zhang, who had talked about retiring after Athens but is now looking to play for at least another year.
Zhou, the world number five and the bronze medalist in Athens, said she was totally outclassed.
"There was nothing I could do. She was too good for me," she said.
This was the third straight year that Zhang and Zhou had faced off in the final. Zhang won in 2001 and 2003, with Zhou taking the 2002 title.
If the women's final was hopelessly one-sided, the men's final did not disappoint.
Jonassen, the second seed and world number five, outlasted 10th seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia 3-15, 17-15, 15-4 in 74 minutes for the top prize of $13,600.
Lee, ranked 17 in the world and the winner of this year's Malaysian Open, came tantalizingly close to winning his second title of the year after wrapping up the first game 15-3, then taking an 8-3 lead in the second.
Jonassen clawed his way back to 12-12, then two cross court smashes by Lee gave him two match points at 14-12.
But the Dane denied him twice before coming back to win the game 17-15, then running away from his demoralized opponent to easily win the third 15-4.
"I was struggling in the opening game, hoping to get a point or two. In the end I got three but I knew I had to do something special to come back in the match," a beaming Jonassen said shortly after the final.
"It was a question of survival in game two. I was always behind and when he went 14-12, I decided to attack. I took some chances and they came off.
"Things just went right for me and in the decider I knew I had the upper hand because I had the momentum behind me," said the Dane, whose only other success in Asia was the 2003 Korean Open title.
A dejected Lee, aged 22, was left to rue his lost opportunities.
"My chance was at 14-12 in the second game but I just couldn't finish him off. His experience proved the key and he managed to keep the shuttle in play," he said.
"In the end, I was too tired to put up any kind of fight and lost the third game very easily."
In the doubles events, the top seeded Chinese women's pair of Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen overcame a spirited challenge from Thailand's Sathinee Chankrachangwong and Saralee Thungthongkam for a 15-5, 9-15, 15-11 victory.