Indonesia Open title is 'special' for Tai

JAKARTA • Tai Tzu-ying will wake up today with a smile on her birthday, and will probably meet people who will address her as Dr Tai.

But, above all that, she will be most happy with her Indonesia Open triumph yesterday.

The Chinese Taipei star clinched her fourth Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 1000 title at the Istora Senayan arena in Jakarta by beating Asian champion Wang Zhiyi of China 21-23, 21-6, 21-15.

The world No. 2 had spoken last week of cutting down errors in her matches, and, like her semi-final win over China's world No. 4 Chen Yufei in which she dropped the first game, she again survived a scare before she defeated the unseeded Wang.

"Yesterday I had a tough match so I thought I've already made a difficult journey, so I had to make the best of my opportunity," Tai, who turns 28 today, said on the BWF World Tour website.

"All my titles are special to me, and so is this one. It's been long since I played in a full-house stadium with the crowd cheering me on. I'm happy to be playing here in Indonesia. I feel the fans have helped me a lot."

Despite leading, world No. 14 Wang had a poor second game but her physicality ensured she hung on in the third. However, Tai, who received her PhD from the University of Taipei's Graduate Institute of Sports Training last week, was equally driven and pumped her fist for every point she won.

Wang, winner of the Asian Championships last month, had only praise for her opponent afterwards, saying: "This was our first match. I really want to learn from her. I had a lot of difficulties facing her, she really is a class player.

"I'd prepared a lot by watching her videos, but the feeling is very different when you play her - her tempo is very good and her attack is very fast."

In the men's final, Danish world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen won his second straight Indonesia Open title with a dominant 21-9, 21-10 victory over China's Zhao Junpeng.

The 28-year-old, who also won the Indonesia Masters on June 12, celebrated with baby daughter Vega on the podium.

"First of all, this is a title that means a lot to me, let alone being able to win it at the legendary venue at Istora Senayan. It's a big dream for me, to win here," said Axelsen, as quoted by Indonesian news outlet Tempo.

"Today I tried to play using my experience to be able to control the match as well as possible. I am happy with this result.

"It takes a lot of energy, mentally and physically. I will celebrate simply with my family."

In the other title deciders, China's Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi won the men's doubles after defeating South Koreans Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho 21-17, 23-21.

Japanese pair Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida retained their women's doubles crown after coming back from a game down to beat compatriots Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota 18-21, 21-14, 21-17.

China's Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong won the mixed doubles after seeing off Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino of Japan 21-14, 21-16.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE