Indonesia's Fitriani Fitriani lands her biggest title
* Image Credit FOX Sports Asia
Indonesia's Fitriani Fitriani celebrated a much needed breakthrough win she was looking for in her badminton career when she clinched the women's singles title in the USD150,000 Princess Sirivannavari Thailand Masters which end in Bangkok on Sunday (Jan 13).
It was a tough, tough journey for the 20-year-old but she gave a strong performance throughout the tournament to win her biggest title yet with a 21-12, 21-14 win over Thai hope and eighth seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the final.
Fitriani turned out to be a pain for Thailand as she had knocked out defending champion and top seed Nitchaon Jindapol 21-10, 17-21, 21-16 in the second round.
She opened her campaign in the Thailand Masters with a 18-21, 21-9, 23-21 win over Malaysia's Lee Ying Ying. The Indonesian lass was 13-20 down in the decider against the Malaysian but simply refused to give up.
In the quarter-finals Fitriani ousted Singapore's Yeo Jia Min also in a three-game battle before prevailing 14-21, 21-15, 21-18. It was full distance in the semi-finals against Hong Kong China's Deng Joy Xuan in her 12-21, 21-19, 21-16 win.
"I played a safe and patient game against Busanan . While my opponents made mistakes I cut out mine. This is a good start to the year...to win the opening tournament is very encouraging," said Fitriani who hails from Garut in West Java.
Currently ranked 33 in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) ranking list, Fitriani, described as Indonesia's "rising star" won the bronze medal in the team event in last year's Asian Games in Indonesia and the 2017 Sea Games in Kuala Lumpur.
She also won the 2015 Indonesia International Series - defeating compatriot Aprilia Yuswandari 13-21, 21-13, 21-13 and in 2016 defeated teammate Hanna Ramadini 21-19, 21-18 to take the Indonesia International Challenge.
"I hope to ride on my success in winning the Thailand Masters to win more tournaments this year," said Fitriani who will also compete in the USD350,000 Malaysian Masters which begins in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday (Jan 15).
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