China Clinch Three Crowns in Indonesian Masters
Jakarta. China dominated the Indonesia Masters badminton tournament by winning three titles but a prospective fourth was denied by the host men’s doubles pair of Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto during the finals on Sunday.
Denmark meanwhile grabbed the remaining title as Viktor Axelsen won his first Masters title in style – he didn’t drop a single game since the tournament in Jakarta began.
Team China started their party with a convincing victory in the mixed doubles after Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong easily overcame French duo Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue 21-13 21-14.
It was the second title for the world number two pair after Thailand Open last month.
Chen Yu Fei had to fight rubber games for more than an hour to beat Ratchanok Intanon 21-16 18-21 21-15 in the women’s singles final, preventing the Thai star from making a hattrick in the Indonesian tournament.
China also won the women’s doubles final as Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan managed to handle pressures from the noisy home crowd and outclassed their Tokyo Olympic final opponent Apriyani Rahayu and her new partner Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti 21-18 21-12.
Fajar/Rian played brilliantly to cheer the home crowd at the Senayan Indoor Stadium as they won the face-saving match for the Indonesian team over Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang 21-10 21-17 in just 36 minutes.
“We played very comfortably in the first game, but the second game was disrupted by the wind. Thankfully we have a lot more confidence than our opponents,” Fajar said shortly after the match.
Fajar added he and Rian are aiming for the world’s top five this year as they also won Swiss Open.
No time to rest for the local heroes as another important tournament for them, Indonesia Open, will start on Tuesday at the same venue.
World number one Axelsen was no match to Taiwan’s Chou Tien Chen and needed just 41 minutes to win 21-10 21-12.
It was his 15th victory over the same opponent in 17 encounters.
Axelsen too will play in the upcoming Indonesia Open where he also aims for another title, before preparing for two consecutive tournaments in Malaysia.
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