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Monday November 2, 2009

Koo-Tan fail to win back-to-back titles

By LIM TEIK HUAT

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong failed to win back-to-back Super Series titles at the French Open in Paris yesterday.

The Denmark Open champions were beaten by Indonesian top seeds Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan 21-15, 15-21, 14-21 in the final.

Meanwhile, China’s rising badminton star Wang Yihan capped her stunning rise to the top of the women’s singles world rankings by securing the women’s singles title, her fourth Super Series crown, this year.

The 21-year-old from Shanghai blasted her way to victory with a 21-9, 21-12 win over compatriot Wang Lin in just 36 minutes.

It was a lop-sided final with the top seeded Wang Lin only managing to keep pace in the early stages of the match.

The third seeded Yihan had silenced the home crowd in the semi-finals on Saturday with a clinical 21-13, 21-11 win over French favourite Pi Hongyan.

Wang Lin, the winner of their National Games, coasted into the final with a 22-20, 21-8 win over Holland’s Yao Jie in the other semi-final.

“I played very well today and I think she was not at her best at all,” said Yihan on the tournament website.

Yihan took over the top spot in the world rankings for the first time this week ahead of Tine Rasmussen of Denmark and Wang Lin.

Yihan began the year by bagging the German Open title before going on to win back-to-back Super Series events – the All-England and Swiss Open.

Yihan also claimed the Macau Open title in August and followed up by taking the Japan Open in September.

She also reached the Denmark Open final last week but lost to Rasmussen.

Earlier, 2007 world champions Nova Widianto-Liliyana Natsir defeated Indonesian compatriots Hendra Aprida Gunawan-Vita Marissa 21-7, 21-7 to secure the mixed doubles title.

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