Smashing show: China’s Shi Yuqi celebrates victory after defeating Denmark’s Anders Antonsen (inset) in their men’s singles final match at the Indonesia Open. — AFP
PETALING JAYA: Chinese shuttler Shi Yuqi continued his unstoppable form when he beat Denmark’s Anders Antonsen to capture the men’s singles title in the Indonesian Open.
World No. 2 Yuqi won the Singapore Open last week and followed it up with a brilliant performance to come away with a 21-9, 12-21, 21-14 win over world No. 5 Antonsen in the final at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta yesterday.
It was sweet revenge for the Chinese ace after he was denied by the Dane in the final of the Malaysian Open in January.
Yuqi surprisingly became the first Chinese men’s singles player to win the title in the Indonesian tourney since Xiong Guobao clinched the crown in the 1989 edition.
The victory is an ominous sign for Yuqi’s rivals with the Paris Olympics set to start next month.
The 28-year-old is now set to be the hot favourite to win the gold in Paris.
Yuqi is also expected to displace Antonsen’s teammate and reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen as the world No. 1 next week.
The Chinese has not lost a single match since going down to Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie in the semi-finals of the Asian Championships in Ningbo, China, in April.
The Indonesian Open crown was Yuqi’s fourth title this year after he also won the Indian Open in January and French Open in March.
The Chinese also propelled China to the Thomas Cup Finals title at home in Chengdu last month.
On his title win, Yuqi told the Badminton World Federation (BWF): “My opponent was very patient today (yesterday), so the only thing I could do was to reduce my mistakes to win.
“It has been a tough tournament for me and I’m happy to win this title.”
Meanwhile, in the women’s singles, there was further joy for China when 2021 Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Chen Yufei avenged her defeat to South Korea’s world champion An Se-young in the final of the Singapore tourney by coming out on top 21-14, 14-21, 21-18 in a closely fought match.
It was Yufei’s first individual title of the year and a timely boost for her ahead of the Olympics after she also finished runners-up to Se-young in the Indian Open.
The mixed doubles title also went to China when world No. 5 Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin stunned world No. 1 teammates Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong 21-11, 21-14.
