Unseeded Indonesia's Budi wins HK Open

Unseeded Indonesia's Budi wins HK Open

HONG KONG (Reuters): Indonesia's Budi Santoso, probably to be left out of his country's singles squad for next month's Asian Games in Bangkok, won the Hong Kong Open badminton title on Sunday with a 15-10, 15-10 win over fourth seed Chen Gang of China.

Budi, who will only play mixed doubles in the Asiad, overpowered Asian champion Chen with some thrilling smashes.

"It's disappointing that I will not be playing in the singles at the Asian Games," said Budi, 23.

"Indonesia have only two slots and they were filled before this event. I was glad I won it in straight games as I was tired after some tough games this week."

In the semifinal on Saturday, Budi beat world number one Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark 15-10, 15-9.

Top seed Camilla Martin strolled to the title in the women's singles with an 11-3, 11-0 victory over the unseeded Lidya Djaelawijaya of Indonesia.

Martin, the world number two, took advantage of the absence of the top Chinese and Indonesian players to claim her third grand prix title of the season.

Martin entered the final after defeating Hong Kong's young player Lin Wan-ting 11-4, 11-8 in the semifinal on Saturday.