Tzu Ying the All-England badminton 'queen'
Credit Image to Raphael
Playing in her fourth successive All-England final, Tai Tzu Ying clinched her third title in the world's oldest badminton tournament with a masterly display of badminton at the Arena Birmingham on Sunday.
The badminton 'queen" from Chinese Taipei, seeded second, defeated defending champion and top seed Chen Yufei of China 21-19, 21-15 in 44 minutes for the Super 1000 crown.
In the process, the unassuming Tzu Ying avenged her 17-21, 17-21 defeat to the Chinese who denied her a hat-trick. Tzu Ying first won the title in 2017 - defeating Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon 21-16, 22-20.
She retained the title a year later when she beat Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 22-20, 21-13.
"Patience won me the game...I have also cut down on my unforced errors, said Tzu Ying who gunned down Spain's reigning Olympics champion Carolina 19-21, 21-13, 21-11 in the semi-finals while Yufei beat Nozomi Okuhara of Japan 21-13, 23-21.
While Tzu Ying celebrated her Denmark's Viktor Axelsen, the second seed, denied Chinese Taipei a double when he beat top seed Chou Tien-Chen for the men's singles title with a 21-13, 21-14 win.
Japan reigned supreme in the doubles - winning the women's doubles through Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota. The third seeds handed China's sixth seeds Du Yue-Li Yin Hui a 21-13, 21-15 defeat in 46 minutes.
Hard-hitting Hiroyuki Endo-Yuta Watanabe seeded only sixth, the took the court for the men's doubles final for a memorable 21-18, 12-221, 21-19 win over top seeds and world No 1 Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo in a 72-minute thriller.
Last year Indonesia won the men's doubles title through veterans Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan while Gideon-Sukamuljo went out in the first round.
Indonesia, however, took home the mixed doubles title through Praveen Jordan-Melati Daeva Oktavianti when the pair defeated last year's World Championships silver medallists Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanacai of Thailand 21-15, 17-21, 21-8.
Results (All Finals)
Women's doubles
Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota (JPN) beat Du Yue-Li Yin Hui (CHN) 21-13, 21-15
Men's singles
Viktor Axelsen (DEN) beat Chou Tien Chen (TPE) 21-13, 21-14
Mixed Doubles
Praveen Jordan-Melati Daeva Oktavianti (INA) beat Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanacai (THA) 21-15, 17-21, 21-8
Women's singles
Tai Tzu Ying (TPE) beat Chen Yufei (CHN) 21-19, 21-15
Men's Doubles
Hiroyuki Endo-Yuta Watanabe (JPN) beat Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA) 21-18, 12-21, 21-19
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