Lee Chun-hei and Chau Hoi-wah's fairy tale came to a halt in badminton's Taiwan Open with defeat in the mixed doubles final yesterday. The unseeded Hong Kong pair was no match against Muhammad Rijal and Debby Susanto, the top seeds from Indonesia and were beaten 21-14, 21-14 in their first tour final. In the women's singles, Taiwan's Tai Tzu-Ying overcame Indonesian Lindaweni Fanetri in a hard-fought final, the top seed prevailing 21-19, 20-22, 22-20 in three gruelling games. But it was a different story in the men's singles final as Chou Tien-Chen of the hosts was beaten by 21-11, 21-17 Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam. Chan Kin-wa
Tennis world number two Novak Djokovic overcame Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in straight sets yesterday to win the China Open for a third time. The 25-year-old Serb defeated the world number seven 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 to maintain his unbeaten record at the ATP 500 tournament in Beijing. Djokovic has now won the China Open on the three occasions he has played, his previous titles having come in 2009 and 2010, and his record for the tournament now stands at 14-0. In the women's singles title match, world number one Victoria Azarenka of Belarus defeated the tournament second seed and world No 2, Maria Sharapova of Russia, in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1. AFP