BANGKOK – World No. 2 An Se-young secured her fourth title in 2023 after overcoming China’s He Bingjiao in badminton’s Thailand Open women’s singles final on Sunday.
The South Korean came out roaring and showed smashing form as she secured a 21-10, 21-19 victory in the Thai capital.
World No. 5 He fought back in the second game – leading briefly by four points – which featured some brilliant net play from both players.
But she could not fend off the sure-footed South Korean, who had beaten former world champion Carolina Marin 21-16, 21-12 in the semi-finals.
On championship point, He’s serve devastatingly failed to clear the net, giving An her 15th title on the world tour.
“I’m feeling ecstatic,” the 21-year-old said after the match. “Winning another championship makes it feel like another fantastic day. It’s a significant milestone for me.”
Her opponent rued her inability to seal the second game.
“It was more or less a lopsided first set. I was able to make adjustments in the second, but I should have done better when the score was close towards the end,” said He.
An has reached the final of every tournament she has played in 2023. She had also won titles at the All England Open, India and Indonesia and will be eyeing her fifth crown of the year at the Singapore Badminton Open, which starts at the Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.
In the men’s final, Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn overpowered Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu, 21-12, 21-10 in to win the competition for the first time.
The 22-year-old thanked the vocal supporters at the Hua Mark Indoor Stadium after becoming only the fourth Thai man to win the title.
The world No. 5, who beat top-ranked Viktor Axelson at the Indian Open in January, played a dominant first game, and was troubled only briefly by an unsettled Lee.
The second game was opened by a feint from Vitidsarn, who tumbled the shuttlecock over the net. The move disorientated his 17th-ranked opponent, who could not find his way back.
Lee will meet Singapore’s world No. 4 Loh Kean Yew in the first round in the Republic this week, while Kunlavut will face 27th-ranked Taiwanese Wang Tzu-wei.
Thailand had two more representatives in the finals, but both lost to South Korean opponents.
World No. 2 duo Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai, who won the previous week’s Malaysia Masters, fell 11-21, 21-19, 22-20 to the ninth-ranked Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun in the mixed doubles final.
In the women’s doubles, the Aimsaard sisters Nuntakarn and Benyapa, who beat second-ranked Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee in the semi-finals, fell short in the final.
The 12th-ranked pair lost 21-13, 21-17 to Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong, the world No. 7s.
China’s world No. 6 duo Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang claimed the men’s doubles, after beating Indonesia’s 14th-ranked Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana 21-10, 21-15. AFP, XINHUA
