China bag three golds at badminton’s Indonesia Masters, No 1 Viktor Axelsen wins men’s singles
- Top-seeded Chinese duo of Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong win mixed doubles with crushing defeat of France’s Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue
- In the women’s singles, China’s Chen Yufei overcomes Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon to win her first title since her gold medal at 2020 Olympics
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Danish badminton ace Viktor Axelsen clinched the men’s singles title at the Indonesia Masters on Sunday, beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen in straight sets.
The world No 1 beat Chou 21-10, 21-12 in a 41-minute match held at the Istora sporting arena in Jakarta.
“I love playing here in Istora and I always dreamt of winning a tournament at Istora. It’s a legendary venue, so to have done that is something that is really special to me,” 28-year-old Axelsen told reporters.
Axelsen’s victory came after he downed home favourite Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the semi-finals.
In the women’s singles, China’s Chen Yufei overcame Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon to win her first title since her gold medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. She defeated Ratchanok, who won the Indonesia Masters women’s title in 2020, in a 74-minute three-set match 21-16, 18-21, 21-15.
“I am very pleased to get the gold medal today. I faced some difficulties during the game but I’m very pleased to overcome them and secure the win,” world number four Chen said.
Chen secured a place in the final after defeating compatriot He Bingjiao 21-17, 21-14 in the semis.
In the highly competitive doubles tournament, China’s top-seeded duo of Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong secured the mixed doubles title after a crushing defeat of France’s Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue.
The world No 2 pair Zheng and Huang downed Gicquel and Delrue 21-13, 21-14 in just 38 minutes.
“We faced tough opponents in this match. We had difficulties [in the beginning] because we had to adapt to the field. Luckily, we were able to overcome them and take the win,” Zheng told Xinhua.
Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan, ranked world No. 1 in women’s doubles, beat the Indonesian duo of Apriyani Rahayu and Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti 21-18, 21-12 to take gold.
Elsewhere, the Chinese duo of Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang finished with silver medals in the men’s doubles after losing in the final to Indonesian pair Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto 21-10, 21-17.
After the Indonesia Masters, the Indonesia Open is set to begin on June 14 and will last until June 19.
The back-to-back tournaments were highly anticipated by badminton fans after almost three years without live audiences in the Indonesian capital due to the coronavirus pandemic.
