India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty created history by becoming the first doubles pair from the country to win the Indonesia Open title, currently a Super 1000 event on the BWF World Tour.
On Sunday, the duo defeated world champions Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in straight-games to clinch their first Super 1000 title. It was their first win in nine meetings against the Malaysian pair as well.
In men’s singles, the world No 1 made a stunning return from injury. Viktor Axelsen clinched his third-consecutive Indonesia Open title on Sunday after triumphing over Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in straight games. And he did so without dropping a game.
The Danish ace continued his dominance on the courts of capital Jakarta’s Istora Senayan arena, outplaying the hometown favourite and world No 2 21-14, 21-13 in a 47-minute final.
Axelsen controlled the match from start to finish, never allowing Ginting to gain a foothold.
The 29-year-old said the final win had left him “speechless” after the Indonesian shuttler failed to halt his hot streak.
“I never thought that I could win Indonesia Open for the straight third time,” the Tokyo Olympic gold medallist told reporters.
“I played with a good balance in my game. A good balance between defence and attacking, and all in all, I’m really, really satisfied about my game today.”
It was his first individual tournament title win after a hamstring injury forced him to miss the Singapore Open and withdraw from the Sudirman Cup, an international badminton tournament.
Axelsen said he would prioritise his health after making his comeback and would not be drawn on where he would compete next.
“I just want to make sure that my body is healthy and strong, and then there are so many tournaments coming up where I hopefully can perform again,” the reigning world champion said.
In the women’s singles final which pitted the last two Olympic champions, China’s Chen Yu Fei triumphed against Spanish star Carolina Marin in a tightly contested 64-minute match to bring home the title.
World number four Chen took the first game 21-18 before Marin nearly tied the match, carving out a slim 19-18 second game lead.
But her Chinese rival managed to snatch the next three points to win the title.
“I thought of changing my strategy against Marin and it turned out to be a bit of a success. That’s why I could get points in the second game,” 25-year-old shuttler Chen told reporters.
The mixed doubles title went to Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong, who have won all three Super 1000 titles on offer so far this year.
The women’s doubles title was clinched by Lee So Hee and Baek Ha Na of Korea, the pair in red-hot form on the circuit at the moment.
With AFP inputs
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