Badminton Super Series victory for HK's Poon Lok-yan and Tse Ying-suet
Poon Lok-yan and Tse Ying-suet became the first Hong Kong women's doubles pair to win a Super Series title when they upset fourth seeds Shizuka Matsuo and Mami Naito of the hosts in the Japan Open final yesterday.
Seeded seventh in the US$200,000 tournament, the Hong Kong pair took less than an hour to register the empathetic 21-17, 22-20 victory at Yoyogi Gymnasium in Tokyo.
The result did not surprise head coach Tim He Yiming, who said the pair had shown tremendous improvement after their baptism of fire at the London Olympic Games.
"They have gained a lot of experience from playing at the Olympics and they are more consistent than before," the coach said. "They were a bit impatient at the start of the final but once they settled down, they were able to play their own game."
The final was the first match the Hong Kong pair won in straight games, with their other victories coming in three games.
"It's not easy for two young girls to stay focused in their first final of a Super Series," said He. "But they have proved themselves now. They have set a good example for other home-grown players that if you work hard, you can be successful."
Bronze medallists at the world youth (under-19) championships three years ago, Poon and Tse, both 21, have been specially groomed for the doubles. They reached the semi-finals at the Japan Open last year and were in the quarter-finals of the All England Championships this year.
The coach rejected criticism that the pair's victory was made easier after players from mainland China withdrew from the tournament because of the Diaoyu Islands dispute.
"You have to remember that they upset two pairs in the tournament who have higher world rankings," said He. "It's the reward for all their hard work and effort over the past couple of years and no one can take this honour away from them.
"They are still very young and it's unusual to see two 21-year-olds winning a Super Series trophy. They have plenty of room for improvement and they can now look forward to next year's East Asian Games, the 2014 Asian Games and the next Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro with confidence."
In the men's singles final, world number one Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia defeated Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand, while the women's singles was won by Taiwan's Tai Tzu-ying, who beat Eriko Hirose of Japan.
