An Se-young prevented a China clean sweep after winning the women singles title at the Singapore Open on Sunday, June 2, 2024. Powerhouse China won all the other titles at stake. - The Straits Times/ANN
SINGAPORE (AFP): World number one An Se-young received a timely confidence boost ahead of the Olympic Games by beating China's Chen Yufei to retain her Singapore Badminton Open women's singles title on Sunday.
With the Paris showpiece starting next month, the South Korean was delighted to have found winning form again after a right-knee injury had sidelined her for more than a month.
"This is indeed a timely boost for my confidence before the Olympics," An said after beating Chen 21-19, 16-21, 21-12.
"There were a lot of question marks raised over my form when I went through those hard times.
"But I'm very grateful to my team for also believing in me and our efforts have paid off," she said.
The match was a repeat of last year's Asian Games final, where An also prevailed against the Olympic gold medallist, and the 22-year-old again met stiff resistance from Chen.
An clinched the first game in 25 minutes but Chen fought back to win the second, before the defending champion's aggression and deft cross-court play sealed another victory.
World number two Shi Yuqi fought back after dropping the first game to defeat Chinese compatriot Li Shifeng 17-21, 21-19, 21-19 in the men's singles final.
"I'm simply delighted with this victory. Li put up a great fight and is a worthy opponent," Shi said.
"We are glad to have set up an all-China final and provided the fans with an entertaining match in Singapore."
In the mixed doubles, world No. 1 Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong beat Chinese Taipei's Yang Po-hsuan and Hu Ling-fang 21-11, 21-19 in just 30 minutes, while Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan won the women's doubles by defeating Japan's Nami Matsuyama and Chidaru Shida 21-15, 21-12.
Later on Sunday, the young Chinese pair He Jiting and Ren Xiangyu beat Indonesia's Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto 21-19, 21-14 to clinch the men's doubles title.
